Cast between Worlds
by phoenix catcher
Summary: Harry/Sheppard. Non-magical:Harry but with Metahuman abilities. Harry is exiled from the Wizarding World and joins the RAF. This is what would happen if Harry joined the Atlantis Expedition. Follows from season 1 all the way to the end.
1. Outcast

Cast between Worlds

Disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter or the Stargate Universe, therefore anything that you recognise in this belongs to either J.K.Rowling or MGM. Anything you don't recognise is my own but I'm not particularly possessive over it.

Chapter 1; Outcast

Harry had always thought that the worst thing that Voldemort could have done to him was to cast the Killing Curse against him and end his life but when he finally came up against him at the end of his fourth year, Voldemort hadn't tried to murder him, instead he'd cast a spell that even Headmaster Dumbledore had never heard of before.

The curse had hit him just as he grabbed the Tri-wizard cup and he had woken up in the Hospital Wing with a very sad looking Poppy Pomfrey running tests on him. "Ah, Mr. Potter, you're awake."

He groaned as he pushed his forehead into his hand to quell his headache but only managed to dull the pain enough for everything to come back to him. He bolted upright with a shocked cry.

"Cedric!"

"You brought his body back but there are many people who want to know what happened." She told him. "I must go call the Headmaster, he wished to be told the instant you awoke."

She disappeared off into her office and Harry struggled out of bed and to the balcony doors. He had suddenly felt the urge to get into fresh air, to feel the wind. It was the same feeling he got on his Firebolt though this time it was much stronger and for the first time it was when his feet were firmly on the ground.

"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey's voice cried out as she presumably came out of her office to find him gone. She came striding out onto the balcony with a sharp look in her eyes. Harry turned to look at her and leaned against the parapet with his back to support him. "What are you doing out here? You should be in bed."

"Why?" Harry asked. She looked shocked. "I'm not injured, I'm just tired. Or is there something else?"

She looked at him as if fighting an internal debate. Eventually she sighed explosively and dug around in her white robe's pocket and drew out a familiar wand. Harry's Holly and Phoenix Feather Wand. She held it out to him with a sad look on her face that he had only once seen before, when he had awoken and he took it delicately before clasping it firmly in his hand.

"Try a spell, Mr. Potter." She instructed him.

He frowned at her before pointing his wand into the ward and focused on his bed pillow. "Accio Pillow!" He stated. It wasn't a shout like he would have if he was trying a new spell but it wasn't a whisper either. Nothing happened. There wasn't even the slight spark from his wand that it had always produced when he failed a spell. His eyes widened slightly before he turned his attention, looking for something else to try. "Lumus!" Again nothing, he was starting to get frustrated now. He spun his wand to point out into the air. "Avis!" He sobbed as not a single bird came from his wand. "What's wrong with me?" He slid down the wall and drew his arms around his knees.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Whatever Voldemort did to you it destroyed your magic. Something's replaced it but I cant work out what it is." Harry looked up at here with confused eyes. At that moment Headmaster Dumbledore walked into the room.

"Ah Mr. Potter, how do you feel?" Harry just gave the man a blank stare which seemed to tell the aged man everything he needed to know. "I see." He turned to mutter something to the Nurse before turning back to Harry. "Everything is set Harry, you just have to come with me."

"Why are we going somewhere?" Harry asked shocked. He couldn't think of a single place that his Headmaster would want to send him. Surely if Madam Pomfrey couldn't do anything about his lost magic then St. Mungos wouldn't be able to do anything either. She'd sounded so lost and sad when she'd told him, like there was no hope.

"My dear boy." Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at the rather patronising tone. "You can't stay in Hogwarts any longer, it's no longer safe for you."

Harry looked towards Poppy who was looking very shocked as she watched every movement the Headmaster made. He might as well have just told Harry he was expelled and been done with it. Harry tried to find words to say but all he could do was gape at the old man who'd just destroyed everything he had known. He didn't know why so few words had passed across such a dramatic decision but it had.

Within an hour Harry had been given back his clothing and was escorted out of Hogwarts for what should have been the last time in his life. He cast a look over his shoulder as he walked down the driveway with Minerva McGonagall helping him to walk. What he saw shocked him into almost collapsing against the old woman. There was nothing left of Hogwarts. Ruin's spread out across the well known ground. A large wire fence surrounded the whole area with warning signs around it's whole circuit.

"What's the matter, Mr. Potter?" His head of house asked him in concern as he sagged.

"It's gone. It's ruins." He muttered remembering what Hermione had once told him. Part of the anti-muggle wards made anyone that actually stumbled across it only see a collapsing ruin of a castle. He'd never doubted her but now with the proof that he was in fact no longer magical he didn't want to believe her.

"I'm so sorry, Harry." The Professor told him using his first name for what must have been the only time he could remember. "This will take you to the Wizarding Relations Officer in London. He's the Muggle that deals with anything to do with the Wizarding World. He'll take care of you."

Harry just lifted his hand for her to hand over the Portkey but she hesitated as she tried to meet his eyes even though he was avoiding her gaze. "We don't all agree with this treatment, Mr Potter."

"Why?" He croaked.

"You've seen how most Wizards think of Muggles. You wouldn't want to stay in our world now." She sighed. "I tried to get you a position here but there are too many people who refuse to have a Muggle around."

"Who?"

"Most of the students from Pureblood families think it isn't right to have a Muggle in the Wizarding World. There are serious arguments between the Muggle born and Half-blood students against the Pureblood students at the moment." She sighed again. "The worst I've seen is in our own house though. I'm afraid Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have come to blows more than once."

He gaped at her. Not once had he even thought about either of his best friends and to discover that Ron was one of those that wanted him out of the Castle broke his spirit far more than anything since the Graveyard. "Please, get me out of here." He whispered wanting nothing more in that moment then to run and hide. To never see another Wizard for as long as he lived.

She shut her eyes for the briefest moment before dropping the pin portkey into his hand.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two years later**

Harry stood looking out his shared dorm window smirking at the heavy weather outside his window. It wasn't a storm, he wasn't allowed to do that, but it was nearing destructive levels. The winds were swirling through the trees with enough force to bend them over and the windows were slamming shut throughout Vixcom Military Academy.

As Harry stared out of the window he remembered everything that had happened in the last two years ever since he had been abandoned by the Wizarding World. He had met Nigel Vandal, the Muggle Liaison Officer, who had offered him a scholarship at one of England's best Military Academies and then seen to it personally that Harry got tutoring in all of the Muggle subjects that he was interested in to help him catch up to his own age group. He'd just finished his end of year exams and looking forward to a new life in the Royal Air Force.

He was one of the best glider pilots in the academy and after learning to fly in aeroplanes he knew that his love of Quidditch did in fact translate over into Muggle activities. He heard the door click quietly behind him but didn't move as his dorm mate Michael walked into the room.

"Hey, Harry!" The lean blond called to him. "Air Vice Marshal Bridge wants to see you immediately. He also told me to tell you that you're disrupting exercises." His friend winked at him and tilted his head towards the wind outside.

Harry grinned at him impishly, Michael always had a way of cheering him up and dragging him out of his depressive thoughts. He nodded before grabbing his uniform coat and neatening himself up. The school wasn't large, it only had about five hundred students but it was still rather impressive, an old manor house used in the Second World War as an airfield to protect the North-Eastern coast of England. It only took him five minutes to walk down the corridor but he was starting to get a rather foreboding feeling as he approached the Vice Marshal's office. He knocked on the door and waited for the expected permission to enter.

Inside the room were two men, the expected Vice Marshal and another man with Army Colonel watching the weather outside. Harry came to a stop in front of the desk and snapped out a crisp salute.

"Lieutenant Potter." Bridge returned the salute. "Interesting turn of the weather don't you think?"

Harry made to apologise but was reminded of the other occupant of the room when he moved ever so slightly. He glanced at him and then back to Bridge. "Don't worry, Lieutenant, Colonel Fellan has full clearance."

Harry nodded briskly. "I apologise for the weather Sir."

"I know you do, Lieutenant." Bridge told him. "I also understand that today is the second year anniversary of the Dark Wizards resurrection."

Harry nodded slowly. Not many knew of his powers over the weather and just as few knew of Wizards but very few actually knew of both. First there was Nigel Vandal, then Vice Marshal Bridge and Michael, who wasn't supposed to know but did, and now obviously Colonel Fellan had the required clearance to know of both. There were obviously others who knew as well, like the doctors that had reviewed his case when he had first showed signs of manipulating the weather. A side effect of the violent removal of his magic.

"I've called you here because Army Intelligence has discovered some rather worrying information. The Dark Wizard is planning an attack on your former school." Bridge told him. "Joint command is well aware of your feelings towards your former professors but we are also aware that our own forces cannot hope to stand against this Dark Wizard in their type of warfare. Being able to pre-empt this attack is an opportunity we cannot waste. We are sending a small team of SAS in to try to assassinate Voldemort but they want you to go with them."

Harry gaped at them. He had missed the Wizarding World every day but he didn't know whether he wanted to actually ever return. It was just too painful for him.

"We're sorry to ask this of you and it isn't an order but we're not sure of what we will face." The SAS Colonel told him. "Your ability to manipulate the weather may be what is needed to kill this Wizard once and for all."

Harry didn't really have to ponder for long and nodded slowly to show his agreement.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Puma Helicopter flew almost within the top of the trees of the Forbidden forest. Harry was in the co-pilots seat and sixteen SAS men including Colonel Fellan sat in the back fiddling with their equipment.

"Lieutenant Potter?" The rather anxious pilot said into his headset. The voice was distorted and breaking up. Harry sighed having expected this. While the Puma Helicopter wasn't at risk all of their electrical equipment would begin to play up as they approached the castles rather impressive magical nexus. "We're losing Navigation."

"Don't worry, I know the way from here." Harry said over the headset before looking out into the early morning light. You couldn't really class it as day yet but a grey light was filtering though the Mountains behind them and across the dark forest. He could easily make out the Castle Ruins but he could already tell that some of the wards were down since he could see a large fight taking place outside where the wards should have hidden them from sight. He pointed over to it and the Pilot banked the aircraft towards it.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at the Colonel. "We're almost there. They'll be too distracted to see us so we should be able to get close."

"Right. You take the lead, we'll protect you." The Colonel nodded. "We'd be better off with some sort of height advantage."

Harry pondered it for a moment before remembering that the Gryffindor tower had a large ledge around the roof, it wasn't large enough to accommodate a helicopter but they could rappel down to it easily enough. The only problem was that they wouldn't be able to see it until they touched it. He told the Colonel his plan and received the go ahead to try it as long as the Pilot was comfortable with such a dangerous manoeuvre.

He was. Harry was glad that the ruins we actually Hogwarts ruins and that with a bit of concentration and pouring through his memories he could navigate them over the Castle towards where the Gryffindor Tower would be. He slowly got the pilot to lower the helicopter foot by foot until he guessed that he was at around the right height. He'd flown on his Firebolt from this ledge hundreds of times but he hadn't been here for two years and he was now in a power helicopter with another seventeen men relying on him. He told the pilot to hold steady as he got to where he thought they should be and slipped backwards into the main section where the men waited.

"We should be permitted to see the Castle once we step foot on it." Harry called to the Colonel who was already holding one of the six ropes hanging from the aircrafts now open sides. Harry glanced over the edge. None of the ropes were coiled up on the ground but he couldn't be that far off. The Colonel made to swing himself over the edge but Harry cut him off. "You don't know the terrain, I'll go first. Once I'm down I can guide you."

The Colonel seemed surprised and looked like he was going to argue but Harry shook his head as he pulled off his pilot helmet and accepted the pistol and holster that somebody handed him. Eventually he got a nod and swung himself out onto the rope. They didn't bother with harnesses since they were only lighting armed with P-90's or in Harry case a pistol, so holding his weight on the rope was easy. He wrapped his legs around it and slid down. He felt his feet come off of the rope just before they hit something solid.

He dropped from the rope and felt his feet connect with the ledge but knew instantly that he had made one serious mistake. He'd landed on the very edge of the ledge and not in the middle of the two metre section. He tipped as he weight shifted beyond his ability to balance itself and for an instant he thought he would simple slip off of it and down the two hundred feet to his death.

His body was pummelled by winds without him needing to call them up and he was tipped backwards onto the ledge as his abilities over weather came to his rescue. A gasp sounded from behind him and he was on his feet with his pistol out in an instant. Two boy's were huddled against the tall spire like roof of the Tower where the ledge ran around it. They were staring at him in shock as Harry sighted along the pistol at them.

He heard the distinct sound of men falling down rope and soon he was surrounded by the heavily armed muggles. "Who are they?" Colonel Yellan asked him.

Harry lowered his gun just as several large crates were lowered down from the Helicopter. Harry made his way over to the two boys and crouched down slightly in front of them. He waited for the helicopter to move away to find somewhere to land before he tried to talk to them. "You're Alexis and Benji, right?" He asked recognising them as two first years he had spoken to perhaps twice before he was expelled.

They nodded furiously before looking up at him. "Harry Potter?" Harry nodded kindly before standing.

"Just stay where you are and don't interfere and you'll be safe." Harry told them before turning to his muggle counterparts who were already setting up equipment along the edge of the wall. Three were already lying on the ground looking down at the battle with Sniper's. Four were setting up large Anti-tank missiles and the others were looking down at the fight with binoculars. Colonel Fellan was waiting for him patiently with two other SAS guards watching the two boys with P-90's held loosely in their direction. Harry nodded at the man before explaining their presence. "They're two third years who obviously decided to come up here to watch the battle. We know each other, they wont interfere."

"Keep an eye on them." Fellan told one of the guards who nodded and moved closer to the two boys who moved away from the man slightly. Harry threw the Colonel an exasperated look before nodding reassuringly at the two boys to calm them down. They watched him with wide eyes as he finally slipped his pistol back into it's holster.

Harry moved with the Colonel towards the edge of the ledge and one of the Sniper's moved aside to allow him to use his weapon's scope to look at the ground. Harry was actually trained in Sniper's and was one of the best shots at the school. It didn't take long for Harry to work out exactly what was happening below. There were two sides as he had expected. The Death Eater's made up the vast majority of the battle grounds, their black cloaks and white bone masks standing out clearly against the green grass and bright light on the morning. In opposition to them were a field of blue cloaked Aurors and a motley bunch of Wizards and Witches dressed in an assortment of colours from the Order of the Phoenix's red cloaks to the professor's various colours and the sixth and seventh year student's black.

Whereas the majority of the battle was between Wizards it was evident that the Death Eaters had brought several rather large and powerful trolls with them and the creatures were decimating the front of the Aurors' line and scattering them.

"They don't think much of camouflage then." Fellan chuckled.

"If you have magic then camouflage isn't really necessary if you want to hide." Harry told them man seriously. He was studying the edge of the forest to the flank of the Order and Students. The trees were being moved yet nobody was there. Whatever was coming through was huge, his eyes narrowed as he realised that only himself and his muggle allies had noticed. "Magic can make people invisible and silent."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**On the Battle Field**

Hermione Granger fought beside Ron Weasley on the far right flank of the defensive line. Around them in order to defend the important right flank were the best that the Wizarding World had to offer. The Professor's of Hogwarts. They might not be the highly trained warriors of the Auror Hitwizards that made up the centre of the attack but their knowledge of their areas of expertise were unrivalled by any there. They made short work of their adversaries with unheard of attacks and subtle moves. Hagrid paused beside them both to find out how they were doing as he reloaded his crossbow.

Their objective was simple, make sure that nothing could get around the defenders and try to enter the school and the students hidden within their common rooms. It was Hermione that noticed it first, a slightly movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she paused in her spell work to consider it. Ron carried on firing until she grabbed at his sleeve and drew his attention with a concerned look.

They watched it for a while before Hagrid came back to them with a worried look over why they had stopped fighting. "What's the matter, Mione, Ron?"

"There's something coming out of the trees." Hermione told him over the noise of the battle. Even as she said it one of the saplings on the verge of the forest snapped in to like something heavy had just stepped on it. Hagrid worked it out in an instant.

"Trolls! In the forest!" His voice easily cut across the noise of battle and instantly the whole right flank shimmered with movement as people turned their focus onto the trees. Spells flew through the air though there was nothing to target but most stopped in their tracks whilst others flew harmlessly into the trees beyond their invisible quarry. They could feel a rumbling as large feet trapsed across the ground and Hermione turned to look at Ron in shock. Trolls were resistant to all magic, to be able to cast invisibility spells on them for any duration, let along have them hold up against other spells, would involve and immense amount of skill and power.

Soon a hail of light was flying across the ground between the trees and the right flank and shields burst into existence. Hermione watched as several Professors were knocked unconscious by the spells before responding with her own spells. Only one troll shimmered into existence as it was hit by seven spells combined and after taking a good look around it threw it's club at them. Hermione and Ron both threw the bombardment curse at it and the club exploded along with its owner. Hermione looked at Ron in shock and the fighting ceased momentarily as everyone stared around for whoever had blown up a troll.

Not a second later three more explosions littered the earth and the remains of three trolls exploded outwards. Hermione glanced back over her shoulder, following a smoke trail back towards the Castle. A group of men were standing calmly on the top of the Gryffindor Tower. '_Harry's ledge!'_ She couldn't help but think. A series of sharp thuds echoed through the air and she turned to see several now visible Death Eaters lying on the ground with blood pooling around their bodies. "Bullets!" She yelled out in amazement.

"What!?" Ron yelled at her as they took cover as more and more of the now visible oncoming line were tugged back onto the ground as bullets slammed into them at such a high velocity that their victims didn't even know what was happening before they were dead.

"Muggle guns and rockets!" She yelled again but had to pause as a troll screamed in pain as a rocket struck where it was standing and it was thrown back into its own line which was almost completely decimated.

"That's impossible, Mione!" Ron argued. "Muggle's cant get into Hogwarts!"

Hermione ignored him and slipped back through the crowd in search of their aged Headmaster not even realising that she was being watched from almost half a mile away by her old best friend.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Gryffindor Ledge**

"Their lines are mixing!" One of the Sergeant's called out as he helped reload one of the anti-tank rocket launchers.

Harry nodded and simply watched through his scope as Hermione made her way through the ever chaotic battle towards the headmaster. He could even make out her expression from this distance. "Just target everyone with a skull mask!" He told everyone. The guns around him opened up. At this range even the P-90's could do damage if aimed so that they didn't risk hitting the defenders. Harry shot two Death Eater's through the head when they tried to attack Hermione who seemed to know now that someone was watching over her.

Harry was there for another purpose but until Voldemort showed himself there was little he could do but sow chaos into the ranks. Most of the SAS squad was no focusing on the main body of Death Eaters but Harry just watched Hermione as she spoke hastily to Dumbledore before setting off towards the main doors into the Castle where a small group of twenty student stood waiting as a last resort. Harry watched her carefully before noticing that a large group of the Death Eaters were breaking away from the left flank and heading towards the door and more to the point Hermione who would never be able to fight against them all, even with the twenty students at the door.

"Colonel!" Harry rolled over and relinquished his weapon to it's owner as he stood. "We need to get down there and guard the main doors."

The Colonel nodded and motioned to five of his men including the one guarding the two boys who were shaking visibly. "How quickly can you get us down there?" He asked Harry as the men checked their P-90 ammunition and waited patiently.

"Two minutes." Harry told the man.

The Colonel snapped out orders into his radio and a distorted affirmation came back to them from the Helicopter which was resting behind the school. Harry led the group through a rather full common room with its shocked children where they deposited the two third years under the care of a group of fifth year girls who recognised him easily though with a look of awe as the way was cleared by men with guns.

Harry and the six SAS men ran full pelt through every short cut that Harry could remember and they burst out onto the front step to see that Hermione was still a way off with the group of Death Eater's quickly closing in on her. The twenty students turned their wands onto them in surprise and the SAS men aimed their P-90's back without hesitation. Harry shook his head before pushing his way through them all and onto the lawn.

A high pitch thudding burst over the Great Hall of the school and Harry glanced up as the Puma hovered over his head. Harry dropped to one knee and brought up his pistol and aimed it at the first Death Eater. The Puma hesitated, unable to fire with a girl between it and it's prey.

Harry fired the pistol well clear of Hermione even if it meant missing her pursuers and he instantly had her attention. "Hermione! Hit the deck!" He yelled at the top of his voice.

She tripped in surprise at the familiar voice and even as she tried to correct her balance she saw the hovering helicopter and kneeling soldier and dove to the ground. The Puma lit up as it fired its gattling guns straight over her head and into the approaching Death Eaters. Harry had to clap his hands over his ears to avoid getting deafened by the guns.

After twenty seconds the guns stopped and steam was seen to be rising from them. The Puma banked and twisted sharply as a spell slammed into its side without damage and Harry ran forwards and skidded to a halt next to his old best friend. He grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her up before running back to his allies with her in tow.

The Colonel gave him a hard look as he returned but nodded with respect in his eyes. The students were standing away from the Muggles and it was obvious that the Colonel had settled the matter between them. "Harry!" He looked to his side and down where Hermione was collapsed on the ground. "What are you doing here!? How did you get in?"

"We flew, Mione. The Castle doesn't protect against Muggles that don't 'walk' through the wards." He explained patiently. "We're here to save your arses since it still doesn't seem that those idiots can do anything right."

"We were taken by surprise, we only knew of the attack last night." Harry's eyes widened at her admission.

"How can the Wizard's be such idiots, the Muggle Military has known about this attack for two days. They had time to come and get me before coming!" Hermione looked up at him with shocked eyes.

Before anything else could be said their radios came to life. Harry held up a hand to silence his Muggle-born friend and put his finger in his ear to better make out the words through the distortion.

"What's happening?" Hermione asked him as he stopped listening and shared a look with his Colonel.

"Our helicopter has spotted a large group as well as Voldemort on you left flank." Harry explained before turning to the Colonel. "Can you get the helicopter to buy the defenders some time to retreat closer to the castle?"

"We can try." The Colonel snapped out a salute to wish him good luck and Harry returned it gratefully before accepting a P-90 off of one of the men, even if he wasn't trained to use it he wasn't about to go into a fight like this with only a pistol.

"We need to get to Dumbledore and order him to retreat!" Harry told Hermione before tugging her forward along the wall closer to where he had last seen the man.

"Why?"

"So I can end this." Harry told her seriously as they dove through the back group of the Aurors. Harry noticed the odd looks he was receiving but they just assumed he was a strangely dressed student.

Hermione made her way towards the centre of the Defensive line and Harry followed along after her with his P-90 held loosely in his hands. He was nervous around so much magic, some of which he could no longer see without his own magic. He watched every spell as it danced between the Death Eaters and Defenders, some of these spells could cause some serious, permanent damage to his body without his own magic to help him.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione's cry drew Harry back to the matter at hand. Dumbledore glanced back at her and she beckoned to him urgently. Harry smoothed down his sweaty hair to cover his scar though he knew that within moments he'd be recognised.

The Headmaster that Harry no longer cared to know backed out of the fight after stunning a Death Eater and came towards them looking at the curious 'Muggle' with a calculating look. "Miss. Granger! What are you doing here?"

"There's another force about to attack the left flank with Voldemort in the lead!" She told him hastily. "We have to retreat to the Castle!"

"How do you know this?" He asked her without looking at Harry who simply stepped forwards.

"I told her." He said the aged man with a sneer on his face that he never imagined he'd use.

"Who are you!?" Albus asked. "Are you a Muggle?"

"Oh clever Dumbledore, did the gun give it away?" Harry snarled making Hermione cry out at his tone. "Draw your _Wizards_ back under the walls of Hogwarts so I can deal with Voldemort."

Dumbledore glared at the hatred in the Muggle's tone at the word Wizard. "Harry Potter!" He almost snarled out. "What are you doing here? You were expelled, you are not permitted to step foot into Hogwarts."

At the announcement of his presence several of the nearby Aurors and Order Members turned to look at him in shock. Their distraction was all the Death Eaters needed and before they could react two fell under curses and a group of four Death Eaters ran into the small meeting and started to shout off spells. Their voices cut short halfway through though as they were thrown back onto the ground with mangled chests.

"Professor." Hermione confronted the man. "They're trying to help, they've already saved the right flank against an invisible troll army and the main doors from Death Eaters."

"What are you talking about, Miss Granger?" He asked as he stared at the dead Death Eaters.

"We were sent my the Muggle Military to end this war since you are not capable of it." Harry snorted as he stepped over the dead Death Eater's with disdain and headed towards the left flank so he could do his part. He glanced over his shoulder. "You cast me out as your weapon too soon, Dumbledore. If you don't all want to die along with the Death Eaters then I would suggest fleeing."

Harry ignored Hermione's pleading to Dumbledore as he watched the Puma thunder high over their heads. He turned to Dumbledore again. "That will cover your retreat but you'll only get one shot. When it starts sound the retreat."

"When what starts, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked him furiously. "Explain yourself."

"I'm not a student you can manipulate anymore, Dumbledore, nor am I under the Ministry's law." Harry smirked at him before ignoring the man. He really didn't need to start an explanation then though since the Puma opened fire. It's eight-inch rockets spiralled to sweep the ground and mud and Death Eater's went flying as it utterly destroyed the front line of the Death Eater army. Harry pressed his radio talk switch and addressed the Puma even as Dumbledore sent up Purple sparks from his wand. The same signal was repeated throughout the defenders and they all started running back towards the Castle doors. "As soon as you're out retreat to a safe distance until the storm is over then return to pick us up."

He dimly heard the Colonel confirming his orders to the Puma pilot before wishing him luck. Harry shut off his radio at the same time that he realised he was alone except for Hermione beside him. He turned in shock since he hadn't realised she'd have stayed. The Puma stopped firing and started to move off towards Hogsmeade though the pilot wouldn't be able to see the Wizarding town.

"What are you still doing here, Hermione!?" Harry rounded on her.

"I'm not going to abandon you like the others did." Hermione told him seriously.

"I know you didn't, McGonagall told me all about you and Ron fighting over it." Harry sighed. "Look, Mione, in ten minutes Voldemort is going to come over that hill with his whole army. They'll take me right to him and then I will destroy them all."

"How?" She gasped, there were over a thousand Death Eaters in the army they'd been fighting let alone in this second army.

"Just because I'm not a Wizard anymore doesn't mean I don't have a few tricks up my sleeves." He wouldn't have bothered explaining but he knew he had time before the Death Eater's approached him. The rather beaten up first army were joining with the second and undoubtedly Voldemort was punishing whoever had been in charge of the first. Harry was sure that if he still had magic he would be able to feel the Dark Wizard's anger through his scar. He raised his arms and concentrated on the sky above them all. Instantly the clouds began to change, they were forced lower and packed in more densely. Once he'd manipulated all of the moisture of the current area he began to draw it in from around him.

Hermione stared in shock at the sky as the rising sun was swallowed by large black clouds. "But I thought that Voldemort took your magic?"

"He did." Harry chuckled. "But I was born with another gift that Muggles can get. Weather Manipulation. I'm not very good at it at the moment though."

"You're creating a huge storm!" Hermione said in awe, "How can you not be very good?"

"It takes practice to use it on small scales, like shooting lightning through your hands. Though I can manipulate the wind." Harry told her and proving his point by turning to her and raising both hands up in front of him. Her clothes were buffeted by strong winds and she was lifted into the air by a cushion of air that would have undoubtedly just popped her ears. "The Wizarding World may not want me around but I know there are some who are still my true friends. I have a Post Office Box in Trafalgar Square, number 683. Teach them how to write to me. I can reply with Hedwig but she cant bring post to me anymore since she cant always find me."

"I'm so sorry, Harry."

"Don't me, Mione. I would have left the Wizarding World after this even if I was still a Wizard. I like the Muggle world more." Harry smiled at her reassuringly. "Bye, Mione."

He gestured toward her and she flew backwards on a wave of air and came to a screeching stop in front of the Order of the Phoenix who were busy interrogating the Muggle SAS group. Harry could just make out that Dumbledore had caught her with a spell and released the air that would have stopped her safely anyway. He also noted that the SAS men had donned heavy weather rain jackets and were probably trying to get the Wizards to retreat into the Castle itself.

Harry heard a shout behind him and turned in time to see someone firing a disarming curse at him. He let go of the P-90 and it flew from his hands towards his enemy. He was being approached by the main front of this huge army and all he did was watch them carefully. He noticed a Death Eater lift the P-90 and seemed shocked at it's weight for a moment.

"**_Avada…" _**Someone started but the man that had lifted his P-90 made a curt gesture and the spell was cut off even as Harry dodged.

"This is Muggle Weaponry." The man said in disgust as he approached. He was about to say something rather rude when the man seemed to recognise him. A sneer spread across his face. "Oh look, the great Boy-Who-Lived. Didn't you realise that Hogwarts is a school for Magic."

"Take him to the Dark Lord." A man in a silver mask spoke up from behind the Death Eater who looked at him with hate before reaching out and grabbing him firmly and together they slowly began walking through the army as it slowly moved towards Hogwarts. The Death Eaters seemed to split apart to allow them through and Harry could see the disgust in their eyes as they saw, and recognised, him.

He was thrown to the ground in the centre of a small clearing in the army and he took in the ten silver masked, inner circle members and more importantly Voldemort who was sneering at his attire disdainfully. "I hadn't expected to see you here today Potter. Though I must say that it is a welcome surprise."

Harry pulled himself to his feet and was glad when Voldemort waved off his Death Eater captor before he could be knocked down again. He started to ignore Voldemort's bragging as he began to summon more and more power into the storm above him. "Tell me, Potter," Voldemort's voice drew his attention again. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to kill you." Harry told him seriously as he glanced around. The army had come to a standstill, evidently waiting to see what Voldemort would do with the Wizarding World's supposed saviour. The group around them started laughing evilly and Harry found himself wondering how stupid they could be to not notice that it was almost as dark as day.

Voldemort stopped their laughing as he noticed the gleam to Harry's eyes, no longer hidden by glasses since he had had them treated in order to join the Royal Airforce. "And how did you expect to do that, Potter? You're less than a squib."

"I don't brag, Tom Riddle. You'll know only in the afterlife." Harry smirked at him and Voldemort recoiled as he saw the mirror image of lightning flashing across Harry's rather dark eyes. They became almost black before Harry released everything he had into the storm now raging above them.

A huge gust swept through the army like a concrete wall, tipping trolls over onto Death Eaters and forcing the Wizard's to grab onto anything that they could. Even Voldemort staggered though he had little chance to find out what was happening as he looked up with fear into Harry's eyes as he stood completely unaffected by the change of weather.

A huge clap of thunder rocked the mountains around Hogwarts, making rocks tumble from their cliffs, windows pointing towards the battle were shattered throughout Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and in the same instant five bolt of lightning stuck right where Voldemort had been standing. The shockwave spiralled through the panicking ranks of Death Eaters and they flew into the air just as the clouds spiralled down to Earth as three Tornados of crackling wind and lightning that spun up everyone in the Army amongst a field of electricity.

Harry stood with a smile on his face as the immense energy of the storm washed through every inch of his body. It was more immense than anything known to man, not even the most advanced power supply could control this amount of energy. He couldn't hear anything over the storm as it raged on around him so he didn't know what had become of the Death Eater army but what he did know was that there was nothing left of Voldemort but his ashes cast into the wind by his tornados. Harry turned and easily walked through the storm.

To the Defenders the storm had completely taken over the space between Hogsmead, Hogwarts and the Black Lake, they were being thrown around rather violently by the wind and occasionally a lightning bolt stuck the Castle but they were all safe though most had retreated into the Castle as soon as their imaginations filled in for them what was happening to the Death Eaters. A Tornado swept surprisingly close to them before slowly raising off of the ground as it dissipated. A rather windswept young man stepped out of it as it left and started walking towards them.

"Lieutenant?" Colonel Fellan asked him. "Are you ok?"

"The storm doesn't effect me." Harry told them all. "Voldemort is dead and not much of his army will have survived that."

A loud clap of thunder echoed across the grounds and a lightning bolt stuck the roof of the entrance hall showering them with dust and small chunks of the stone work. "Harry!" Hermione yelled over the storm. "Can't you stop it?"

Harry shook his head. "It will only dissipate in it's own time."

"If you'll all come with me to my office then we can discuss this properly." Dumbledore spoke up and looked expectantly towards a group of Aurors nearby who made their way over and stood waiting for the Muggles to move. The Colonel glanced at Harry who simply shook his head in the negative. He had no intention of doing anything that the Headmaster told him to. When nobody moved the Aurors drew their wands.

"And you wonder why I plan on leaving." Harry muttered to Hermione who had made her way over to him. He raised his voice to speak to the rest. "We're not going anywhere with you or your lapdogs, Dumbledore. Like I said before, you have no authority over us, if you want to complain about that then take it up with the Government."

One of the Aurors seemed to lose control, his nerves probably still rather frayed after the battle, and he threw himself at Harry to try to capture him. Before the SAS men could shift the aim of their P-90's the Auror was sent back into his comrades as soon as he touched Harry's arm as a jolt of electricity shocked him. Harry just smirked. "Just because the storm doesn't effect me doesn't mean that it wont hurt you."

"We don't have to touch you, Mr. Potter." One of the Aurors told him. "We'll let the Minister decide what we should do with powers like yours." Their wands were on him in a second but before anything could be said the sound of guns being cocked broke through the storm and the Aurors spun to see five men behind them aiming sniper rifles at them as well as two small third year Gryffindor's who had been enlisted to escort them down from the ledge.

A flash of white light and a loud crash rocked the area and only after Harry had blinked the light from his eyes did he realise that he none of the SAS men had their weapons anymore. They all went for the pistols only to find them gone. The Aurors smirked and their leader nodded to Dumbledore who had cast the powerful spell with ease.

Harry shook his head and took a step forwards so that he was soundly between his allies and his new enemies. "You Wizard's learn nothing. We'll remain out here until the storm dies and you will return inside and leave us alone."

"You're not in any position to make demands, boy!" The Auror snapped. Harry simply raised his hand into the air and the storm seemed to lull slightly and shift position as a shaft of cloud erupted towards them. Lightning streaked from it and slammed into the ground not ten feet from the Aurors, leaving a large crater in the ground. Harry eyes glowed black again and with a chuckle he watched as the Aurors, Dumbledore and a laughing Hermione entered the school.

Now, Harry was truly free.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	2. Without a backwards glance

Cast between Worlds

Chapter 2; Without a backwards glance.

**Eight years later**

Three years of training in Colorado Airbase's officer training college, two years of flight specialist training, a year of special operations training and then two years of black ops missions in South America and now the twenty-four year old Harry Potter was the most bored man alive or at least he felt it.

The British Military had arranged for his transfer to America, he'd been given a dual citizenship and had been given permission to join their Air force and after three years had graduated at the top of his class with an honour award for excellence. At nineteen he had been rated as a Second Lieutenant and went into a Flight Specialist and discovered that his love of broomstick and glider flying translated to jet craft. He became one of the best pilots in the American Air Force and held many of the records for dog fighting and time trials.

After two years of training and simulated and real bombing runs across the world he had been drafted into Special Ops. training and had trained for a year before being assigned to police parts of South America, particularly the Amazon rainforest where his manipulation of the weather came in handy. Now as Lieutenant Potter he was crawling through the Jungle after spying on one of the drug gangs' base of operations. The kind of place that they hid their drugs or kept their prisoners before ransoming them off or killing them.

It had been the same thing for the last two years, spying on facilities before reporting on them. Sometime he would then get a second to help him take it out or they'd send in a crack team to wipe it out or occasionally he'd get sealed orders telling him to call his power forward and wipe the place off the surface of the world. That only happened though when the facility was in plain view. He'd killed an American citizen in league with a gang of terrorists that way by creating a twister that had wiped out his house in the middle of the city of Brasilia.

His latest target was a group that was getting very lucky with its captures and ransoms. Four of the last five major political people from Europe and the United States had been captured and one of them killed. It stunk of an inside job to Harry so he had taken extra care to keep his own movements secret and left as much as he could out of his reports.

Even so when he got back to his own hideout in Manaus within the Amazon rainforest he was more than irritated to find a small note jotted on a post-it note in his room. It was a 'to arrange a meeting' note. He sighed before slipping out. Supposedly his contact would be at the local café-pub all afternoon waiting for him.

He walked into the café-pub with an air of uncaring. He had set up shop in the large town since he didn't need a cover and could operate freely without worrying about being noticed. The place was filled with tourist, humanitarians and 'business men'. He sat at the bar and ordered and apple juice. The barman gave him a strange look but gave him the desired drink. He drunk exactly a third of it in one gulp and then placed it on the table turning it slightly with his left hand in slow circles. All part of the code described in the note. He saw the agent before he'd even stood to speak to him. The look of recognition of the code was enough to gain his attention. The man was about his height but older with slightly messy black hair and gleaming eyes. To Harry he stuck out like a sore thumb, luckily the man had taken the appearance of a tourist so it wouldn't matter to anybody else.

He downed the rest of his drink and left the bar heading out into the sugar fields that surrounded the town since they would hide them from sight from anyone else, even those in the fields. He waited for the man to catch up to him before turning slightly and more obviously looking searching the man with his eyes. "The gun on the floor please." He said simply.

The man did as he was asked though he didn't seem to like it. Harry copied the motion with his own gun and then smiled slightly. Both knew that the other had a knife on them but neither would demand the other to completely unarm themselves even if it was protocol. "You Potter?"

"Yeah." Harry replied. "Who are you?"

"Name's Sheppard. I have new orders for you." The man said sounding like he'd rather be anywhere else than here being a courier. Harry took the orders and read them other.

"You seen these?" Harry asked disgusted. The man nodded though he didn't know why Harry was so upset about them. Their orders were to sneak into the base and rescue the Royal Air Force pilot that had been captured two weeks before. It was a ridiculous when Harry could just decimate the place and then rescue him or her quietly.

"What's your problem with them? They seem straight forward to me?"

"I haven't reported that I think somebody high up is working with them for a profit. This could be a trap to get two more hostages." Harry explained waving the orders in the air.

"That's a bit of a leap." Sheppard pointed out.

"You haven't seen their base of operations. It's impenetrable for just the two of us and I said so in my last report." Harry told him.

"Maybe they don't think you're experienced enough to know what is impenetrable or not." Sheppard suggested.

"You don't strike me as an idiot Sheppard so don't try to act like it."

"Watch it, Potter."

"Ranks don't count out here," Harry retorted. "I've been in this area watching them for the last six weeks. I know what I'm looking at."

"You think this is a trap?" Sheppard asked.

"I think there's some guy in the Pentagon that is working with these guys to feed them information on possible victims and then gives them warnings of possible incursions." Harry explained. "That's the only way they could build up like this without somebody in the Pentagon doing something."

"Either way we can't leave someone in there. We have to at least try to get in there." Sheppard pointed out.

"Fine but we do it my way."

"And what is your way?" Sheppard questioned.

"I go in and you watch. With that kind of defence one will be better than two and if I get captured then you can have the proof you need." Harry told him.

"You could be tortured." Sheppard pointed out.

"I've been tortured before in worse ways." Harry told him remembering his bout of the Cruciatus curse.

Sheppard gave him a sharp look but agreed to the plan. He might be the senior but Harry had the experience with this particular gang. The only thing that they were worried about was Harry being killed before they could get in a bigger force to deal with the place.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry crawled up to the outskirts of the perimeter fence in the dark of the moon. The base didn't have electrical power so they didn't have perimeter lights so he and Sheppard had chosen to wait and make their move that night. Sheppard was harnessed into a tree almost half a mile away with night vision goggles filming every move that he made. If this went sideways they at least have the proof they wanted that there was somebody calling illegal shots in Washington.

Harry cut through the barbed wire fence and crawled through. He waited on the outskirts of the low light from the nearest building and listened to Sheppard's whisper in his ear. "You've got nobody on the scopes. Nobody on watch at all. This isn't right. Pull back."

Harry ignored him; he couldn't answer without risking somebody hearing him. Sheppard's voice was back in his ear. "I told you to pull back!"

Harry paused but started to edge backwards. Before he could move though ten men burst from the nearest building with night vision goggles and before he knew it he was held tightly by three of them. A man before him that he recognised from his own photos as the leader pulled a gun and shot him in the leg. He cried out in pain and just about heard Sheppard's shout in his ear when somebody struck him in the back of the head and he saw white.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Some time later**

Harry woke with a soft groan but with years of training he didn't move. He wasn't tied up, not even his hands but the shot wound on his leg was only bandaged with a scrap of shirt, probably not even by his captors. He couldn't believe he had been right.

That ambush was too precise yet the way they had moved suggested they'd been lying in wait for something to happen but not when. And since Sheppard hadn't called in to report the plan that was exactly what they had expected. He just hoped that Sheppard had called for help and made a noise about it or the high up traitor would be able to squash it. If he'd managed to order two to take out an impregnable fortress of men then he was perfectly capable of doing much more.

"Harry, are you ok?" A familiar voice rang in his ears and he almost had a heart attack of panic as he heard it.

"Michael!" Harry sat up and looked around assessing the room that he and his old school friend were trapped in. Another man was propped up against the wall but by the look of it he was a local and was very much dead if the smell had anything to say about it. "How did you get here?"

"I was shot down from a recon plane over Uruguay." Michael told him. Harry realised that he must be the RAF officer that had been reported captured by this group.

"Well you're in central Brazil now." Harry told him making his eyes widen dramatically at the revelation. "What have they done to you?"

"Nothing worse then that gun shot wound they gave you last night." Michael told him. "I'm the first Brit they've had so they're being careful about how they treat me."

"Treatment that I don't think will carry over to me." Harry sighed. He detailed everything he knew about the men that were holding them captive as he unwound Michael's temporary bandage around his GSW or gun shot wound and poked and prodded it to check for infection. He then tore off a strip of his own shirt and tied it around the wound carefully. By the end of the story Michael to furious. His own capture was too precisely timed to be anything but a trap and only somebody high up could have done it.

They quieted and pretended not to know each other as they heard footsteps coming up to their hut. The door opened roughly and they were both grabbed and dragged across the bright grounds outside to another hut. Harry wondered if help was on the way yet or not. He knew a tactical Black Ops. Team was stationed in Brasilia but it all depended on whether Sheppard had gone straight to them or sent a report off to the Pentagon. Harry hoped he had Sheppard's personality right otherwise he'd be dead before help arrived, if it arrived.

Harry saw white as he was chucked onto the floor carelessly and Michael came down on top of his stomach with all due lack of grace. Harry groaned as a foot met the side of his head and he felt blood start to slide down his face.

'_Something's not right here.' _Harry thought as he looked around the room, blearily making eye contact with Michael who looked dazed but not as worried as he should be. They just didn't train Pilots like Black Ops. Specialists so he didn't know something was off about the situation.

Harry's first clue was the lack of any torture equipment, no wires, no tools, nothing. Harry braced himself as he was pulled to his feet and found himself facing a South American man.

"I want the location of the tactical group. Now!" The man told him in simple English. Harry glared, the man knew far too much about their tactics. Harry refused and answer even as one of the others kicked Michael in the chin, probably dislocating his jaw. Blood seeped out of the side of Michael's mouth; he'd bit his tongue or his cheek. "Where is your partner? The one sent to aid you."

Harry met his glare with a stoic look before finding his face planted into the ground as a baton smacked into his shoulder blades. Harry coughed up a bit of blood but pushed himself back up onto his knees. "It doesn't matter, it's only a matter of time before he reports in and we get told where he is hiding."

Harry saw Michael's eyes widen at the confession. The man had just admitted that he had been set up by somebody in the Pentagon. The man stepped forwards and twisted his boot into Harry's leg, right over his bullet wound. Harry bite back a cry as the tissue was torn apart around the wound but he refused to scream.

"Tell me what I want to know." The man repeated almost gently before pulling a gun from behind his back. Harry's eyes flashed black for an instant and Michael tried a weak smirk as he realised what was happening. "Very well then." The man said rather oblivious to what Harry was doing.

The darkness vanished from his eyes as the man squeezed the trigger. Harry couldn't hold back the cry of despair as he friends body was thrown backwards as the bullet caught him straight in the heart. Harry watched as the life faded from his eyes.

The six men in the room began laughing but the laughs only fuelled his rage. His eyes went pitch black and the room went dark as the grey clouds he had already formed went black. Cries erupted from the outside of the room as the men turned to look at him with shocked looks as they met his black eyes. Electricity sparked off of him sending the two holding him back into the walls. Harry pushed himself up to his feet before everything went to chaos.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Helicopter above the Amazon Rainforest**

Sheppard flew low over the tree tops towards the base as the sky darkened horribly; he'd never seen the weather change like this before. "Looks like we've got some bad weather closing in, guys." He spoke through his microphone to the six men geared up behind him. He'd taken Potter's advice and contacted the tactical squad directly so it couldn't be countered by Potter's spy.

"_Is that a twister!?"_ One of the men's voices gasped in his ear. He spun his head to look around and saw that the clouds were reaching down from above to meet columns of dirt and leaves spiralling up from the trees. He looked around and counted.

"We've got three heading for the base." Sheppard spoke into his microphone again. The helicopter bucked wildly as winds buffeted it as lightning lit the sky striking the trees and ground.

"_Mission's scrubbed, Major!"_ Sheppard flinched, he'd known as soon as he'd seen the weather that he'd have to divert but he had hoped.

"Affirmative Colonel." Sheppard replied.

"_Don't sweat it, Major."_ The tactical team's leader told him. "_We'll put down in Manaus and scope the area. If your guy's still alive we'll find him."_

Sheppard nodded to himself before swinging the helicopter towards the south-east.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Base**

Harry had painstakingly dragged Michael's body to the tree line before going back in to search for the other prisoners. There were none so he waited at the sidelines as the area was devastated by his tornados and lightning strikes. He was fascinated by the twisters that he had created. They were far more powerful then anything he'd created before and they didn't seem to want to fade either.

He turned away as the storm began to weaken and spread out into the normal weather systems creating strong winds and rain across the area and he began to lug Michael back through the trees. According to his watch it was nearing sunset by the time he was found. Two figures in combat clothing appeared out of the trees and pointed their P-90s at him.

Harry gently lowered Michael's body to the ground before facing them more squarely though he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep for a week. His beating and the gun shot wound were taking their toll on him and he was glad to note that they were definitely American. "Lieutenant Potter?" One asked.

He nodded before staggering to his knees in relief. A strong grip caught him around the shoulders and he dimly noticed Sheppard appearing from somewhere. "Who's that, Potter?"

"Michael Greyley. Royal…" He muttered before his throat closed up.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant. We'll make sure he gets back to England." The first man told him.

"Sheppard?" Harry lifted his head to find them man. "I got a name."

Sheppard perked himself up and turned to the first man. "Colonel, we have a name of a traitor in the Pentagon working with the criminals here to capture operatives."

"Good work. It just became your job to not let anybody get near him until he's able to give testimony." The Colonel ordered. Whatever was said after that was lost to Harry as he fell into a deep sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Colorado Military Hospital**

Harry had spent a week recovering in Brasilia before being flown to England for Michael's funeral. He had said a few words, propped up on his crutch, as the man that had seen him die though most of it was classified. He'd spent the night with Michael's family who he knew from Christmas' and summer holidays when he was at Vixcom and then on his few opportunities for leave after going to America.

After that Harry was flown to the Pentagon to give a report to the Pentagon and with the confession he had gotten from his torturer whilst the building was burning down around them was enough to put a man away for a very long time. After that wearying week he'd been sent to recover in the main Air Force Hospital in Colorado Springs near to his own college.

Two months and he was getting so bored of his stay that he was tempted to try an escape even though he didn't have anywhere to go at the moment. He had an apartment in Colorado Springs but he hadn't been there in almost two years. There was a knock at his door and two men walked in, a Colonel and a Captain.

Harry stood up quickly and snapped off a salute. Ever since he had been deemed healthy he had taken to wearing his uniform again. "At ease Lieutenant. My name is Colonel Patrick and this is Captain Bennett, we have new orders for you."

Harry accepted the orders quietly dreading another stint in a jungle somewhere. A small smile slipped onto his face as he read the destination, Kodiak; Alaska. An airfield. "Do I get to fly again?" Harry asked before quickly adding the 'Colonel' to it.

The Colonel gave him a stern look but nodded all the same. "I've only been authorised to give you the basics here but you'll be involved in a trial run of a new fighter plane. Captain Bennett is to become your wingman and will go out there with you."

"I don't understand, he's _my_ wingman?" Harry was confused, why was a Captain _his _wingman when he was a rank lower.

"You _are _his senior. You're to be promoted to Captain for your classified work predated to the events in question." The Colonel explained, Harry was astonished. "You are two of our best pilots and are both perfect for these new systems. You'll be given the schematics once you board your plane but then you are to speak of it to nobody. You leave in three hours. Good evening and good luck. Both of you."

The Colonel left and Harry sagged into his chair with an explosive sigh rereading his orders in his hand before tucking them away. "Captain Potter, are you ok?"

Harry took a few moments to realise that he was being talked to but then he turned to Captain Bennett with an apologetic smile and a gesture to the chair across from him in his little room. "It's just been a while. I've been stuck in Secret Ops. for two years trying to get them to let me into a squadron but I've always been rejected."

"Why did they do that?" Bennett asked him. "According to the files they let me read you're a natural in anything aircraft you're given. Top of your class as well."

"It seems they think I'm a natural for crawling through bushes too." Harry quirked up his lips in a smile. Harry stood up and grabbed a bag from under his bed before turning back to Bennett. "I'd better pack. Since we're exactly the same rank you'd better call me Harry."

"You are still my senior but sure. As long as it doesn't get me in trouble." Bennett smiled and took Harry's offered handshake. "The name's Iain."

"Any idea who else we've got with us?" Harry asked.

"Um…two lieutenants just finished pilot specialisation. I've got their files. We can read them on the way to the airport if you want." Iain explained as Harry packed. Harry nodded gratefully. He didn't want to go into this without a clue.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Kodiak Airbase**

As they came into their landing Harry could help but take in the airfield's large but thin runway nestled into the mountains of the island with its hangers and bunkers built into the actual sides of the mountains. The control tower was on one of the ridges while there was nothing else on the valley floor that told it as an airfield except of the taxi ways and a couple of large C-5 Galaxies and an old C-141 Starlifter. They stayed in the plane as it taxied off the runway and into one of the larger hangers and then finally were directed to carry their luggage off the carts and into a waiting area.

They spent a few moments neatening themselves out, or in Harry's case covering his messy hair with his cap. They didn't have to wait long before a Major walked into the room. She was in her early thirties at first glance but Harry knew her instantly from her pictures in the college he'd attended. Major Samantha Carter, an astrophysicist with a huge reputation for her work, which was classified and Harry didn't have a clue what it was.

He saluted her smartly as did Iain and they introduced themselves. "Did you read over the specs on your flight?" She asked them.

"We skimmed it, Major." Iain nodded knowing she hadn't expected them to read every word of it.

"I'm here to fill in the gaps and open your eyes to a truth you can't begin to imagine." Major Carter told them with a strange glint in her eyes. Harry wondered if she knew about the Wizarding World and if this had something to do with it. If that was the case though somebody should have already mentioned it to him. "Please follow me and I'll introduce you to the other half of your wing before we get started."

They followed her deeper into the complex until they came to a small lecture hall with six seats and a large view screen. There was already two people in there. A female and male Lieutenant who looked fresh out of school to Harry who knew that his appearance told people that he was older than he really was. Especially in the last month since his friend had been murdered in front of him and then the two weeks of physiological evaluation.

The two Lieutenants saluted the three senior officers and Harry joined in the return before letting Major Carter take over the introductions. "Captains, this is Lieutenant Clare Fields and Alex Carlthorpe. Lieutenants this is Captain Iain Bennett and your squadron leader Captain Harry Potter. I'll let you all get acquainted better on your own later but for now we have much to cover." She motioned for them to take seats before starting. "This project is already four weeks behind schedule since we had trouble getting a suitably skilled squadron leader and then he was temporarily taken out of service."

Her gaze settled on Harry and he flinched slightly, she obviously knew about Michael and his capture and torture but he didn't look forward to telling his new squad about it as well. "The Pentagon decided it was in everyone's best interests to postpone the start date until Captain Potter was back on full duty and it was again possible for us to assemble the best team of pilots to pass through flight training." She told them all before looking at the two Lieutenants. "You're inexperience in actual combat flights will not be an immediate problem for us since both Captain Potter and Captain Bennett have combat experience and we decided that with these new systems it would be best to start from scratch."

"Before I continue I need you to all sign and date these forms to get you the correct clearance for what I am about to tell you." She moved across the line handing out forms and it was evident to everyone, including a shocked Major Carter, that Harry's was an extension on an already top level clearance. Major Carter got an odd look in her eyes obviously curious about what secret Harry was already in on that she didn't know about. Harry drew the form towards him and signed against his name. It was a clearance for a different branch of secret operations. A sister branch of the branch that dealt with Wizarding matters. "Good. We'll begin by showing you where this new technology has come from."

She backed into a seat behind them and the lights dimmed as the screen flashed to life. An older man's face came onto the screen with what looked like a huge circle behind him. "Good day gentlemen, ladies. My name is General Hammond of Stargate Command." The General greeted them though it was a recording. "Under normal circumstance you would be standing where I am now for this briefing but as I am sure you have already been told time is spare. I am going to brief you on the nations best kept secret. The device you see behind me was discovered in 1924 in Egypt. We discovered its use only eight years ago when a team worked out how to work it."

The device began to spin and Harry leaned forwards in his seat with curiosity. "This device is a piece of Alien technology thousands of years older than the human race on Earth. With it we can travel instantaneously through an artificially created Wormhole to any planet with a similar device in this entire Galaxy." He paused to look behind him and Harry's eyes were drawn to the device as it stopped spinning and a huge wave of what looked like water burst from it. Harry's first thought was magic but then he noticed the large electrical conductors and monitors. He felt his eyebrows disappear under his cap. "And we do it by simply stepping through that."

The screen froze and Major Carter stood up and walked passed them to the front. She looked at each of them and saw pale and amazed face on three of her audience but only a curious look on Captain Potters. She decided she'd have to keep an eye on the squad leader. "For the last seven years we have been exploring the Galaxy with the use of this Stargate and although we have made powerful enemies we have also made allies." She told them.

"And it's these allies that have given us the technology for these planes we are supposed to pilot?" Iain asked. Harry had to hand it to him, he adapted well.

"That's correct. These four planes are far more advanced than anything created on Earth until now and will work alongside a larger fleet of space capable craft and ships." She told them.

"Ships?" Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

"There are three types of working space capable craft." She stepped to a pedestal and clicked on the laptop sat there. A picture appeared on the screen of a fix-wing plane with curved wings and two seats. "This is the F-302. A fighter capable of travelling beyond the speed of light and designed to counter our enemy's small combat craft." The screen changed again and a huge ship appeared on the screen with what looked like ten decks and rather large engines. Harry didn't want to have to guess how much that had cost the Americans. The Major was speaking again. "The BC-303 called the _Prometheus _is a large battle cruiser designed to combat the enemy's larger mother ships and has proved capable of it in trials."

Harry head the emphasis on the trails part of that sentence. Obviously Earth hadn't been seriously threatened from space since its creation. Harry remembered back to his schematics. "Where do the _Vipers_ fit into this, Major?"

"Why don't you tell me, Captain?" The Major challenged.

Harry glanced at his new squad and frowned in concentrations bringing everything from the schematics into this new landscape. "I'd guess their engines, not needing fuel of the kind we are used to, can be relied upon to protect the planet. Their speed would allow for record breaking circumnavigation either within the atmosphere or in orbit and their Switchblade wings reduce its profile in combat in space or for aerodynamics in atmosphere but give it the option for high manoeuvrability in air." Harry took a breather and looked at the Major to finish.

"The idea for the X-304's is as high speed bombers of defence against inbound aircraft." She concluded with a nod to him. "You'll have the rest of today and tomorrow morning to get to know each other and read through the flight control manuals and specifications before your trial run tomorrow."

Iain held up his hand and Harry grinned at the childish action. "Major, if you don't mind me asking, but have these things ever actually been flown before?"

She grinned at them all. "No, Captain."

"Oh great." Harry muttered sarcastically. "From Jungle to graveyard in one dramatic high speed crash."

"Don't you mean supersonic speed crash, Captain?" Lieutenant Fields asked cheekily.

"Oh yeah, so fast we wont even feel it." Harry grinned at the Major with a glint in his eye.

"Captain Potter. The base commander would like to see you privately before you're allowed to your own devices." Major Carter told him. "I'll leave the Lieutenants to show Captain Bennett to his bunk and show you the way myself."

Harry actually gulped as he followed her out of the room, replacing his cap and straightening his blue uniform jacket as he went. He cast a quick look at Iain and the two Lieutenants before the door closed behind him.

The one star General's office was simple with a view out over the valley. They had had to take a long elevator ride up through the mountain to reach the control tower's building where the office was housed so the view from the window was amazing. You could see the whole Island from their vantage point.

"Thank you Major Carter, do you mind waiting in the hallway?"

"Of course not, Sir." Carter saluted and left the room.

"Captain Potter, congratulations on your recent promotion though I doubt the circumstances were what you had in mind." The General greeted him. Harry shook his head slightly but didn't move to speak. "I have full clearance Captain Potter so I know about your more _interesting_ skills and I've seen the satellite photos of the Amazon Rainforest four weeks ago."

Harry got the idea where the conversation was going. "I promise you General that I have no intentions to call up any weather patterns anywhere near to this airfield."

The General nodded. "The President assured me you would say that but I wanted to here it myself. We can't afford anything to go wrong here, there are too many higher ups looking for something to shut this project down." The General told him. "It's why they suggested a younger team to head it up. They hope that your combined inexperience will stunt the project."

"With all due respect General." Harry started. "Both myself and Captain Bennett have far more experience with experimental aircraft than most Colonels and the Lieutenant Fields and Carlthorpe were the best in the class in flight training."

"That was exactly why you were picked for this task. If anyone can do this it's you." The General told him. "I would consider it a favour if you and Captain Bennett took Lieutenant Fields and Carlthorpe under your wings and looked out for them until they find their feet. Especially in combat runs."

"Of course, General." Harry nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Excellent Captain Potter." The General nodded. "Also I have been allowed to let you in on something to prepare you. I was told you didn't appreciate surprises or overdone acts of praise. Hence why you don't where your Military Cross."

"It isn't designed to be worn on an American Air Force Uniform." Harry told him bluntly. He'd been awarded the British Military Cross for his defeat of Voldemort but the reason was only listed as 'for service beyond the call of duty.'

"Yet you have permission from the Queen herself to wear it do you not, I believe she actually presented it to you personally." The General smiled at him at his modesty. "I'll request that you wear it when you are presented with the Air Force Cross in two weeks by the Chief of Staff when he comes to view the X-304 Vipers."

Harry almost forgot to be polite as his mind reeled. "I don't understand Sir."

"The President and Joint Chiefs agree that your lack of regard for you own safety in bringing the traitor to justice is worthy of the Air Force Cross." The General gave him a small smirk. "The presentation will precede the display. You're dismissed Captain Potter, and remember what I said; Kodiak likes its weather just the way it is."

"Understood, Sir." Harry told him before snapping of a smart salute and backing out of the room. He walked passed Major Carter as he muttered under his breath about being 'nobody's bloody saviour.'

"Most people are happy to receive the Air Force Cross." Major Carter leaned in to tell him as they entered the elevator to take them back to the accommodation levels. Harry almost glared at her but then remembered their respective ranks. Not only did he now have the Military Cross with the Royal coat of arms on the ribbon to commemorate that the Queen herself had presented it to him with her public blessing but he'd have to wear the second highest Award that an American Air Force Officer could achieve. If he didn't hide soon by the time he retired they'd find a reason to give him the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Honour as well. He shuddered at the thought.

"I'm not most people, Major." Harry told her. "It'll be odd enough that I have a British Military Medal on my uniform let alone the Air Force Cross at twenty-four."

"You must have done something worthy to receive them." She told him.

"What, ferret out a politician?" Harry asked her with raised eyebrows.

"Your file says that you risked your own life to stop him from continuing and you were lucky to escape that storm especially with the body of a British Pilot so he could be buried at home." Harry winced at the mention of Michael. "What's the matter?"

"He was my old school friend." Harry told her bluntly. "We were friends ever since we were fourteen."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She struggled around for another topic before settling on something that had confused her as soon as he had mentioned the Military Cross. "How could it be that you were awarded the Military Cross? You have to be in the British military to get that."

Harry shrugged. "I _am_ British." She looked at him strangely. "I have a dual-nationality and since I was part of the RAF when I earned the Cross the Queen gave them her blessing to give it to me."

"I bet your uniform looks strange with only two high-class Medals on it." She smiled at him with amusement.

"There is a UN conflict medal on it as well." Harry shrugged.

"UN conflict medal?" She was truly confused now. "How could you have one of those? You're too young to have been in a conflict."

"Sorry, Major. Classified under both countries." Harry told her with a shake of his head. "Sorry ma'am."

She seemed to struggle internally before making what seemed to be a major effort to forget the topic so that it didn't annoy her. The elevator chimed and the doors opened saving Harry from the slightly tense air that had followed the blunt end of their conversation.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry stood silently in his best uniform with its two medals and their associated ribbons. It amused him that he was rather a big mystery to most in the audience of senior officers and politicians that had arrived for the 'display.'

They'd spent two weeks of almost sunrise to sunset exercises to learn their way around the crafts and even though they had kept to daytime operations and simple exercises without any combat parts it had still been exhausting. They had been given yesterday afternoon to recuperate and now they were ready to go.

Harry stood shoulder to shoulder with Iain on the right flank of his squadron. Clare and Alex stood on the other side of Iain all in their best uniforms so they could be introduced to the crowd. Harry had come to know Captain Iain Bennett as simply Iain and as long as they weren't doing anything formal the two Lieutenants kept their first names. Harry found it was for the best since they had only a short time to become a close-knit team.

Harry turned his eyes away from the glaring June sun to look at the speaker as he changed track. "I am also honoured to be able to double this occasion to honour a brave soldier who went beyond the call of duty to make our country safe from enemies both outside our borders and within." The General of the base stepped back and the Chief of Staff took his place.

"Captain Potter risked his life to end a major plot between a militant faction in Brazil and a member of our own government. Their attacks cost three American and two French charity workers and a British Air Force pilot their lives. He withstood situations some of us never have to imagine and returned the body of Flight Lieutenant Michael Greyley; Royal Air Force, while escaping a dangerous situation." The Chief of Staff took a moment to gesture Harry forward and he broke rank and walked slowly toward the man. "In recognition of his devotion to the well-being of both America and Britain we award Captain Harry Potter with the Air Force Cross for displaying extraordinary heroism in action against an enemy of the United States."

The Chief of Staff accepted the medal from one of his aides and then turned back to Harry. He stepped forwards and Harry saluted him. He pinned the ribbon of the Cross next to the Military Medal on the opposite side of his classified UN conflict Medal and then returned Harry's salute. Harry nodded to him before walking back into line to wait out the rest of the presentation.

It was a further forty minutes before the speeches were finished and the group broke up for an hour and a half long meet and greet session while Harry and his team went to suit up and do their pre-flight checks.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two hours later**

The four planes sat at the far end of the runway with their engines offline and their pilots waiting for the control towers ready. The officials were all seated in a viewing balcony half way up the mountain and would migrate up to the ridge top to view their stint of aerial acrobatics.

"Remember guys, nice and easy. They're only politicians, we're not here to push the envelope just to impress them." Harry told his squad, Viper Flight, even though he knew that the control tower was listening to his words. "Confirm pre-flight checks satisfactory."

"_Viper 2, checks complete. Ready to go." _Iain's confident voice came crisply through his headset. Harry knew that the control tower would now have routed the audio to the balcony to keep their audience aware of what was happening.

"_Viper 3, checks complete. Ready to go." _Clare told him, she was nervous but she hid it well.

"_Viper 4, checks complete and ready to go." _Alex reported with a final air to his voice, his confidence boosted by his squad's crisp answers.

"Kodiak, Viper Flight is ready for ignition." Harry waited patiently for a whole ten seconds of silence imagining everyone on the balcony talking at once as the Control Tower asked the Chief of Staff for permission to start. Harry thumbed the Flight radio that linked the four Vipers together. "This is why I hate politicians." He grumbled to the others who laughed in response. He clicked back onto the Control Tower and spoke again. "Kodiak, Viper Flight is awaiting orders." He said with a roll of his eyes.

The response was a bit faster that time and Harry smirked into his oxygen mask as he pulled it up and clipped it over his face. "_Viper Flight you have a go for ignition and launch on your own time."_

Another voice broke in. "_Good luck, Viper Flight."_ Harry recognised the voice as the Chief of Staff.

"Viper Flight." Harry spoke as he tilted his fingers near the ignition switch. "Ion system start on my mark. 5...4...3...2...1...Mark."

He flipped the switch and then pushed a button on his console and a low hum reverberated through his Viper as the engines charged. A bar on his console began to rapidly fill as it reported the power in his engine. It quickly reached the critical mark about a fifth of the way up the bar and the Viper shuddered as the engines flared to life. All four lit at the same time and the air behind the Vipers shimmered with energy as the Ion engines disrupted the air.

The flared ever brighter as more power was put into them. They'd only need forty percent of their power to lift of since they were using the runway and not doing a vertical take off and they soon had it. Harry dulled the power build up so that it held at fifty percent power and then glanced at his side screen which gave him the statistics for all four planes. His own took up the top left corner of the screen with a green outline of the plane with the wings tucked in so it looked like a triangle. Iain's was next to his own with Clare and Alex's below their own. All displayed the same thing.

Harry glanced out of his window firstly at Clare on his left wing and then out to the right at Iain's plane and then Alex's.

"Rig for control flight." Harry ordered before thumbing a switch on the console. The plane barely twitched as the perfectly weighted wings span out to the sides and backwards until they formed a shallow V shape against the main body of the plane and just forward of perpendicular. He glanced at the screen again and saw the diagrams change shape so that all four displayed the open winged form. "Chocks away." Harry said with a small grin as the four planes smoothly started rolling forwards speeding up faster and faster.

It only took the planes a few hundred metres to reach take off speed but all four of them keep at an altitude of a metre as they took in the landing gear. Just as they got in line with the balcony Harry smirked into the microphone. "Viper Flight to cruise power." All four instantly boosted their engines and the four planes shot forwards with phenomenal speed. Whilst not their fastest speed it was far faster than anything else was capable of and within a second they were pulling up and had disappeared over the ridge line at the end of the runway.

They kept low for about five minutes before Harry led them in a slow arc around to the south of the island. Even at cruise speed they travelled almost one hundred miles travelling at just under twelve hundred miles per hour. At their speed they could travel the entire circumference of the equator of twenty-five thousand miles in just twenty hours but if they activated their swarm logic and combined the squad aerodynamically with their Ion drives at full power their could achieve the same distance in a third of the time going at three thousand miles per hour.

They wouldn't be doing that today though, they had only come out this far so that the officials would have the time to move up to the ridge. "Let's give them something to be happy about shall we?" Harry asked the others. "Course 345 degrees, swarm formation."

Whereas they wouldn't go to full power since they'd be hard to see he still wanted to show them that they could actually fly since so many didn't have any faith in their abilities. He settled on his new course at a thousand feet and Iain tucked himself carefully behind and to the side of his right wing with Alex behind and beside him. Clare settled opposite Iain on Harry's left wing.

Harry decided to change the given route for some fun and to show the officials what the planes could do. "Rig for high speed."

Instantly the four planes changed shape as their wings pulled themselves slowly into the sides against the force of the wind. He clicked on his flight radio to talk to them all directly. "We'll split up over the runway, normal pairings, rig for high control as we exit inner marker and regroup at outer marker bearing 200 from Kodiak."

"_Roger Flight Leader." _Iain replied and Harry got identical replies from the other two. They flew in quickly and rocketed low over the ridgeline, their engines almost silent but still the effect of breaking the sound barrier was evident as the loud sonic boom shocked their audience. They broke formation as soon as they were passed the airport and headed off in different directions as they opened their wings to circle back around to Harry's designated position on the normal entry route for landings.

Harry figured he'd give them a view of the top of the planes and as expected it was an awe inspiring sight as they spun through the valley wing tip to wing tip up the far slope.

They did a few more passes including a vertical dive in pairs and a slow pass at barely sustainable speeds before the control tower gave them permission to come in to land.

Harry clicked on the microphone. "Kodiak this is Viper Flight, permission for vertical landing."

"_Permission granted, Viper Flight."_

Harry directed the four planes around along the valley until they settled in a line along the runway as they came to a halt with Iain in front of him and Clare and then Alex behind him. They turned whilst they were still in the air and then extended their landing gear and brought the ships smoothly to the tarmac with barely a jitter.

"Kodiak, this is Viper Flight on the ground and powering down." Harry thumbed his own engine cut off and glanced to the side to see a message appear on all four statistics screens as he was informed that all four were shutting down. Harry pulled off his mask to see two buses heading across the grounds towards them. Obviously the officials had come down to the runway to see them land. "Oh great." Harry muttered to himself as he shut off the console lights and popped his canopy.

He unclipped his harness and pulled himself up out of the cockpit and after twisting the ladder release three rungs extended from the side of the plane so he could lower himself down to the ground. He unclipped his support vest that his microphone leads and telemetry were linked into and slung it up into the cockpit for the techs to deal with.

He met up with the others in front of his plane just as the two buses pulled to a halt and started to empty. The Chief of Staff along with the Base Commander and Major Carter began walking towards them along with a Colonel that Harry didn't recognise.

"Very impressive, Captain." The Chief of Staff shook his hand after Harry saluted him and the General. "May I introduce Colonel Jack O'Neill of Stargate Command? He is the leader of the flagship team which includes Major Carter here."

"Colonel." Harry saluted him smartly.

"Very cool flying out there Captain." The grey haired Colonel grinned at him childishly. "You all looked very natural up there."

"At those speeds, Colonel, you cant be anything but a natural." Harry told him with a small nod of thanks to the compliment. "As I am sure you know from experience."

The small compliment wasn't lost on the man and his lips twitched. Harry turned slightly to eye the 'suit' that was poking around his Viper. "I see you feel the same way about politicians as I do then, Captain."

Harry turned back to look at the Colonel in surprise that he had been so obvious. "Only when they are too close to the equipment I need to rely on." Harry cast another nervous glance over his shoulder at the thirty odd officers and civilians looking around the planes and being directed by the technicians who cared for them. Harry felt a little better when he noticed that the techs were keeping an eye on the civilians. He looked back to see O'Neill smirking at him.

"I feel exactly the same way." O'Neill told him. "Well how about some food, I'm hungry."

Harry glanced at Major Carter with a raised eyebrow but she just rolled her eyes at her senior's disregard for rank. Harry's team got onto one of the buses along with the others to return to the mountain leaving the civilians and other officers to learn what they could about the Vipers.

In all it was a complete success. They'd begin combat drills in three days and then it would start getting interesting.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter

A/N; If anyone wants to know what the planes look like just think of the Talons from Stealth.


	3. Proof through combat

Cast between Worlds

Chapter 3; Proof through combat

__

"Captain Potter and Captain Bennett reporting as ordered Sir!" Harry announced as he walked into the Admiral's briefing room.

"Where are Lieutenants Fields and Carlthorpe?" The Naval Admiral asked as he gestured to the two chairs facing the desk.

"Still in the sickbay being checked up by the meds, Sir." _Harry told him._

"Oh well, I suppose I'll leave you to carry the message on then." The Admiral them. "I have been authorised to give you combat operational status. As of this moment the X304 Vipers are cleared for combat."

Harry's eyes widened slightly, they weren't supposed to get clearance for another six weeks. "With all due respect, but why so soon, Sir?" Iain beat him to the punch.

"I'm not cleared for that information. It was the president himself who gave the order at the request of General George Hammond and Colonel Jack O'Neill." The Admiral told him.

"Do we have a mission, Sir?" Harry asked.

"As a matter of fact yes." The Admiral told him. "You launch immediately. We'll brief you once you're in the air."

Harry and Iain stood and saluted. "Yes Sir!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry brought his focus back to his radar imaging that showed a 3-D visual display of the terrain surrounding the coastal city in Turkmenistan. It even showed the building so that he could plan their attack run.

The Vipers were nestled close together as they passed quickly over the Red Sea. Only two hours ago a group of United States Army Rangers had been sent into the city to capture a rebel leader but one of their helicopters had been shot down and they had been bogged down as the rebels closed in on them. At this moment the over helicopters had been strafing the large numbers of rebels that were surrounding them but the Ranger Command had requested that the fast moving air support was brought in to make a decisive action against the rebels.

Harry thumbed the long range radio microphone. "Ranger Air support, this is Viper Flight. Fast movers inbound bearing 210 degrees from your position, over."

__

"Viper Flight this is Surveillance One, holding at one thousand feet. We'll clear the air when you arrive. We'll paint the targets now, over." A calm voice came back through the radio.

"Negative Surveillance One, Viper has targets marked." Harry told them, the Vipers were fully up linked with satellite and infrared imaging systems. "Clear the decks guys, we'll take over air support while you pick up your men. ETA is thirty seconds."

Harry switched the microphone to the flight frequency and tapped the mic twice to alert the others. He waited for the three return clicks before reducing his speed out of supersonic and into more sensible speeds.

"Viper flight, attack run 3 with prolonged air support. Normal target allocations." Harry intoned. They dropped to the deck as one and spread out into a line abreast so that nobody could dodge incoming fire and end up in front of a missile fired by one of the others. They left the wings folded so they were less visible since it was still daylight.

Harry glanced down at the water onto two metres below him and saw waves encroaching across the surface as the Vipers jet wash forced the water into a dip below them. "Weapons are hot!" Harry told them all before arming his rapid fire scram missiles that could level buildings in only two shots. They were only low yield explosives but would penetrate the outer walls of the targets before exploding inside thus collapsing the building from within so there wouldn't be so much collateral damage. Vital since there were Army troops on the ground nearby. "Confirm friendly forces." Harry ordered just as the coast came into view.

"Viper two, confirmed." Clare and Alex copied Iain's announcement and Harry glanced to the side at the flight readout screen which showed that all four Vipers were weapons hot. Six radar contacts appeared on his Heads-Up-Display but they were just the Army's helicopters.

"Commence bombing run." Harry told them before jerking on his joystick slightly and opening his bay doors to unload the reel of missiles. He switched to the ground frequency. "All forces, this is Viper flight. Bombing run in ten seconds."

Harry switched to his combat screen and pulled up to clear the first line of buildings. Four buildings were highlighted on his screen with red circles and he selected his target from them. His computer beeped in his ear to tell him that the scram missiles were ready and locked on. He fired.

To the ground troops the strike was over in a matter of two seconds. First they heard the dull whine of incoming jets and slowly took cover thinking that they had a few more seconds since they were used to fast moving air support bombing targets for them. They were shocked when a dozen smoke trails exploded over the buildings on their right and slammed into the four buildings that he rebels had taken up firing positions in.

They dove behind cover as the four buildings collapsed inwards and none of them could see much detail of the four jets that burst across the sky. As they recovered their positions they could just about make out the four jets split up and head in different directions as their wings opened out to the sides.

Harry kept slightly higher than Iain, Clare and Alex so he could keep an eye on the whole city whilst the other three worked to clear the main road from the troops' position to the outer reaches of the city as well as taking out any large group of rebels that were encroaching on the troops' positions.

__

"Motor Keg incoming from the west." Iain told him calmly.

"Roger, Church." Harry responded using Iain's pilot codename.

__

"Storm, we've got a group of Technicals and two tanks coming down the north highway." Clare told him using his own rather unoriginal codename.

"Viper 3 and 4, level them." Harry ordered.

__

"Storm, the motor keg is two miles away. ETA approximately four minutes." Iain told him.

__

"Viper flight!" Harry became more alert as the stressed voice came from his radio speakers and not his ear piece. _"We're taking serious fire from the roof tops. We need suppressive fire."_

"Roger!" Harry told them before changing frequency.

"Viper 2, strafe the north side, I'll take the south." Harry ordered Iain before turning his Viper in a tight turn and lining up along the south buildings heading towards the oncoming motor keg that was coming to pick up the troops. He dropped low and switched from missiles to canon and pressed down on the trigger. Bullets tore through the rebels who had taken up positions on the roof tops just as Iain did the same on the other side of the road.

Harry turned another tight turn before dropping down into the street to fly low over the motor keg. He switched to missiles and launched two to take out a hastily erected road block. His Quidditch reflexes came into play as one of the rebels got off an RPG at him. He rolled the ship within the confines of street before angling up towards the sky and bringing his engines to full power. Dust flew as he went through the smoke his missiles had created.

By the time he had righted himself the motor keg was boarding the troops under the close cover of the helicopters whilst the other three Vipers were keeping level at about two hundred metres so that they were clear of the helicopters. Smoke was rising from the north, presumably from where Clare and Alex had taken out the Technicals and tanks.

Harry watched the painstaking task of the retreat before joining the other three Vipers in their standard formation.

__

"Viper flight, this is ground control." The voice from before started. _"All units are clear, thanks for the help."_

"Glad to be of help." Harry told them. "Viper flight returning to base."

The troops would spend weeks trying to discover what the craft were that had helped them but would turn up nothing but more questions. As far as they would ever know they just didn't exist.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

USS Nimitz; Pacific Ocean

Harry leaned back against his cots headboard with a brown envelope in his hands. It was his redirected mail. Ever two months his London Post Box was packaged up and sent to the Military Postal Service Agency. The letters MPSA were stencilled onto the front along with both of his ID numbers, his British one and his United States one. He tore into it with delight and pulled the letters from it. There were only four letters in it and they were only short since Harry tended to leave most of their lives to face to face meetings and none of his friends sent him a letter a week anymore but they did try to make sure he always had one from each of them.

He pulled the first one to him with Hermione's distinctive writing on it and pulled it open. The BFPO (British Forces Post Office) all in one envelopes and letters were an interesting space saver but they didn't really work with the Wizarding ink so Hermione had introduced Remus, Neville and Luna to the wonders of a ball point pen. Harry was glad since his first few letters had been ridiculously smudged with ink. Wizards really needed to join the modern world.

__

Dear Harry,

How are you? Everything is going well here lately but things are still slow in the working. I'll let Remus tell you the good news so I won't mention it in case you get this one first, though I think he sent a letter to you yesterday. You know how unpredictable military post is especially since you're not listed on the listings anymore. Don't worry I'm not going to ask why, you always do like to get yourself into the thick of things.

That actually brings me to an interesting point. My 'work' is taking an interested turn soon, I'm being sent to work with the RAF for a while on their base defences, maybe I can learn what your life is like.

Stay safe and keep yourself out of trouble.

Love Hermione.

Harry allowed a small smile to encroach on his features. Hermione worked in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable so if she, and presumably others, were being sent to the RAF bases then the non-magical government were pulling out all the stops when it came to protecting their assets. Harry wondered what Hermione would think about the rapidly advancing technology, at least she would understand it at least to a point.

__

Hi Harry!

Lot's of good news for you this time, Harry, in contrast to last time. Luna and I are expecting. We don't know whether it will be a boy or a girl and I don't want to until the day arrives but with Hermione being names his/her godmother we were hoping that you would take on the role of godfather. I know what you will say, "Neville you can't possibly want me to look after your child, look how I turned out!" But that is exactly why I want to name you the godfather, I know that you'd never let anything stand in your way of protecting him/her if something were to happen to me or Luna.

I've taken over from Professor Sprout! I'm now the Professor of Horticulture at the school. I've also been given the Chair for the Horticulture Research Council that works for the international confederation. Luna is moving into the school as well to take on Trewlawny's job and we all know that she'll do a much better job and will even leave your name out of it.

I hope to receive your acceptance soon and no you don't have a choice. Be careful out there and visit soon. Baby is due around April 14th.

Love Neville.

Harry found himself blinking before working out the codenames. It wasn't safe to write things about Hogwarts or Magic in the letters since some were read by his superiors before being sent out. Neville had obviously become Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts and become chairman of the Herbology Research Council. Luna was obviously teaching Divination now.

Harry toyed with opening Luna's letter next but he put it aside. Her letters always made him nervous and with good reason.

__

Dear Storm,

I heard about you being awarded the Air Force Cross. Did you see the weather in the Amazon lately?

Harry rolled his eyes at the not so subtle hint but continued reading, skipping the rest of the useless pleasantries.

__

It seems that we've finally gotten ourselves a worthy Minister in Susan Bones. She's pushing for better rights for the disabled as well as the 'infected' and the tension is off for me to get a long term job. She's appointed me as Ambassador. It's a harsh job but I enjoy it. You'll be interested to know that the Daily Mail released an official apology for your expulsion with her name on it. It seems that she was one of the ones that was less than pleased about the way you were treated.

Give it enough time and you could probably visit and receive the gratitude you deserve, if you weren't so modest that is.

Make sure to look me up at the Office next time you're in England.

Love Moony.

Harry grinned at the change of events, he had always like Susan Bones and her mother for that matter who had been very fair to him when he was put to trial before his fifth year. She was obviously pushing for werewolf rights and was succeeding and he was glad that she was using the Daily Prophet to get people thinking about how somebody they considered was a squib had saved them all. He'd have to pay her a visit at some point.

Harry picked up Luna's letter with a feeling of dread, she only ever wrote him an individual letter if something was wrong, and normally she would just include her well wishes in Neville's letters.

__

Dear Harry,

You had best start getting changed while you read this, though it seems that you already have.

Harry frowned looking down at his plain jump suit with the simple 'Cpt Potter' written above the breast pocket. She always managed to shock him.

__

It's seems our time for jolly talking is coming to a close. They've sent you all around this world and now it seems that it'll be the Muggles that push the Wizarding world into the future. They'll need you to keep them from in fighting.

I'm sure this will all make sense to you but probably not until you need the advice. I wonder if Trelawny ever felt this knowledgeable but considering the fact that I am still trying to get rid of that atrocious smell from her classroom I would settle on assuming that she ran short of brain cells many long years ago. I am just glad that I have Neville's rooms to share since my own are disgustingly fluffy.

Ah… we are running out of time, you'll need to go soon, it truly is interesting to write a letter as you watch somebody else reading it in the future, it takes all of the fun out of being creative. You are about to be 'scrambled' and you'll never see this room again but I want you to listen to my advice. You'll be handed an opportunity for great things that will only serve to put more distance between you and your past life. Take it and grip it tightly and see if through to the very end.

This is the life you are meant for.

I shall give my daughter your love since you will be unreachable when she is born.

Watch out for fire from the sky soon.

Love Luna.

Harry had barely finished the letter when his squawk box came to life. He rolled his eyes at Luna's games as the voice of the Nimitz's Executive Officer ordered all strike pilots to scramble. Harry grabbed all four of his letters knowing that he didn't want to leave them behind and was glad that most of his personal effects were still on Kodiak Island as he rethought over Luna's words.

Obviously things were about to get interesting.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Pacific Ocean

With Luna's warning in mind Harry was on full alert as the four Vipers held formation around the task force. A dozen other planes from the Nimitz Carrier circled the group of Cruisers, Destroyers and the Air Craft Carrier.

Harry was about to report in to the Nimitz when a streak of red caught his eyes. The Vipers all jerked as they flinched as the red streak merged with the Nimitz just before the whole carrier exploded into a fireball.

"Fuck!" Harry swore regardless of his words being broadcast across the radio.

The Cruisers and Destroyers broke formation but they were too slow, a Destroyer exploded in the same way. Harry thumbed his radio. "All ships, all ships, this is Viper Flight, you are defenceless! Abandon your ships immediately."

__

"That is against protocol, we'd be sitting ducks!" A voice came back.

"You're sitting ducks now." Harry disregarded classification for the sake of saving lives. "You can't fight something in space!"

He was met by silence but the sincerity in his voice seemed to have convinced somebody senior down there as the ships ground to a halt and men began abandoning the ships in favour of the small life rafts that were rapidly filling the water. Harry watched in sorrow as each of the ships were picked off with a target that he couldn't see. He wondered if Luna had seen this.

"Keep your speed to normal levels, I don't want us to stand out to the Goa'uld sensors." Harry told the others on their secure network before he switched to the normal one. "F-22's report to land bases but keep as low to the water as possible."

__

"This is Jasper Flight, roger Viper leader." Harry watched with a critical eye as the conventional jets, reliant on their fuel supply, dived to the deck and began heading into the North and towards Alaska.

__

"Viper flight, this is Captain Naismit, can you reach help?" Harry heard the words from the hand held short range radio.

"We're sending a distress signal now." Harry replied patiently as he watched the flashing light of said signal that he had pressed as soon as the Nimitz had fireballed. "We'll stay nearby until help is sent."

__

"Thank you Viper Flight." The relieved man responded. _"We're doing a headcount now, we'll give you our report once we're through."_

"Roger. Out." Harry changed to the emergency long range frequency. "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Viper Flight in good condition. Is anyone receiving this? Over."

Harry had to repeat the message four times before a voice came back to him. _"Viper Flight this is Kodiak, patching you through to the Whitehouse, wait, out." _Harry raised his eyebrows but conceded waiting while he listened to reports from the life rafts.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

The White House

"The engagement began less than five minutes ago and there was only one Goa'uld ship." General Maynard told the room of politicians from his place next to the phone which had just gone dead.

The room broke into hysterics so much so that the General barely heard the phone ringing again. He lifted it to his ear to listen regardless of the fact that it wasn't actually his phone.

__

"General Maynard! We have Viper Flight being relayed through Kodiak Airbase." The secretary's voice told him.

"Put them through immediately." Maynard said loudly as he motioned for silence and stood. The room went silent in seconds as the loudspeaker was turned back on. They were greeted by silence for a moment before Maynard prompted the speaker. "Viper Flight, this is General Maynard in the White House. Can you hear us?"

__

"Command this is Viper 1, reading you loud and clear!" The voice responded.

"Who is that?" President Hayes whispered in an aside to General Hammond, previously the commander of Star Gate Command.

"That's Captain Potter, Squadron leader of the prototype X-304's." Hammond spoke quietly.

"Captain, this is President Hayes. Where are you?" Hayes asked as he moved closer to the speaker.

__

"We were onboard the Nimitz, Sir." Potter told them. _"We received orders to scramble but only my flight and a dozen F-22's got up before the Carrier was hit."_

"What's the situation now, Viper flight?" Maynard asked.

There was a long pause and Maynard was about to re-ask the question when Potter's voice came back onto the speaker. _"Quiet, Sir. The attack stopped as soon as the last ship was destroyed."_

There was a shocked gasp from the room before Hayes gather his courage to ask the question he least wanted to hear an answer to. "Survivors?"

__

"The ship's sounded 'abandon ship' as soon as they knew they were defenceless. Contact with the surface tells me that there are six hundred survivors, fifty of which are injured though only two critical." Potter told them. _"I've already requested evac. for them from Kodiak and sent the F-22's to land on Kodiak Island."_

"Thank you, Viper Flight." Hayes said sadly.

__

"What are your orders, Sir?" Potter asked.

"What's your status, Viper Flight?" Hayes asked.

__

"Flight is fully operational." Potter told them. _"We sustained no damage."_

"What about fuel supply?" Hayes asked. "And weapons?"

__

"No supply, Sir." Potter replied. _"We're currently loaded with standard LRAA format."_

Hayes turned to Maynard and Hammond in confusion, he hadn't been in office long enough to know much more than the fact that the Viper's were the most advanced craft they had with the possible exception of the Prometheus. Hammond turned to him. "They run on an Ion Core so don't ever need refuelling, their only time-limit is the pilots need to eat and they should be stocked with enough food and water for five days minimum." Hammond told him. "LRAA means Long Range Anti-Aircraft so apart from the normal Scram-missiles, 30mm rounds for the canon and Hellfires they have six Phoenix Missiles as well."

"Phoenix Missiles?"

"Long Range Anti Aircraft missiles capable of being launched from over one-hundred miles away." Hammond explained.

"Can they be used against the Death Gliders?" Hayes asked.

"They're Radar Guided so as long as they can see them on Radar then they can shoot all six at once." Maynard told him with a small smile.

"Viper Flight. Can you maintain position?" Hayes asked.

__

"We can for seven days if necessary." Potter told them.

"Very good, keep an eye on the survivors for us and await orders."

__

"Roger White House. Viper Flight out!" The signal died and Hayes breathes out an explosive sigh.

A man ran into the room with a frantic look on his face and Hayes sagged into his seat. If he'd known it would be this hard to run a country he might have thought twice about trying for the job.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Pacific Ocean

Harry tilted his Viper as it circle on autopilot around the survivors. They had formed the life rafts into a large floating platform complete with a group of hospital rafts, a cluster for eating in, a command and radio 'hut' and then a group of rafts with extra covers for sleeping in.

It had been almost three hours since he had 'hung up' on the White House and he was still waiting for orders over than to keep an eye on the survivors. Clare had proposed that they were being kept in this position since it gave them the advantage of being able to travel to any part of the planet relatively easily and he figured that she was probably right.

__

"Viper Flight, this is Kodiak. Mission alteration. Contact Prometheus on secure line Charlie immediately after setting course of 180 degrees. Full speed. Over."

"This is Viper Flight, Roger, Out." Harry told them before switching to the ground radio frequency to talk to the Navy below them. "Sorry guys, but we have priority orders. Help is on the way."

__

"Thank you and Good Luck." The Sailor told him before the line went dead.

"Viper flight adjust course to 180, Hyperspace Logic." Harry told them all before spinning to face south. The others came into place beside and behind him on both sides and the flight status screen flashed three quarters green before he enabled the joint Hyperspace Logic. The autopilots took over and the other three Vipers closed in towards him as they increased their speed until they were just blurs to the Sailors below them.

Harry waited until the had settled at full speed before pulling up the required secure line to contact the massive spaceship. "Prometheus, this is Viper Flight, over?"

There was a pause before a voice he recognised as being that of General Hammond came over his speakers. _"Viper Flight, are you in range to assist?"_

Harry glanced at his navigational screen that showed them as being two hundred miles from the south pole, only eighty miles away from the Phoenixes firing envelope. "Prometheus, we have twenty four - - two, four - - AIM-54 Phoenix Missiles, ETA to firing range is two minutes twenty seconds." Harry told them.

__

"We'll send you targets on this channel, launch as soon as you are in range and then join the close in fight ASAP." The General told him. A couple of seconds later the Viper's computer asked him for permission to download the incoming information. Twenty four sets of target information were sent to him and he selected six of them for himself before sending the eighteen others to Alex, Clare and Iain.

Harry didn't have to order them to move into attack position since they moved into line with him as he dropped from hypersonic speeds so that they wouldn't overrun their own missiles. His HUD displayed six lines emanating from his ship and taking off over the horizon but his targets were hidden by the curvature of the Earth's surface. He waited for the range counter to come well into the hundred mile envelope before he fired the selected six long range missiles.

The X-304 shuddered six times as the missiles flew rapidly from their bay underneath his ship. "Viper One, six missiles away." Harry announced both on the flight frequency and on the secure line to the Prometheus.

__

"Viper two, six missiles away." Iain announced as six more trails of smoke flew out from Harry's right.

__

"Viper three, six missiles away." Clare told them in an emotionless tone.

__

"Viper four, six missiles away." Alex reported with a final tone to his voice.

"Prometheus, all missiles on their way." Harry glanced at his impact counter as it steadily climbed down. "Two minutes to impact."

__

"Roger, Vipers. We'll stay clear."

"They'll come in high Prometheus." Harry told him before switching to the Flight frequency. "Deploy wings at twenty miles, stay in pairs, Alex, you're with me."

__

"Roger Storm." Iain's voice replied for all three of them before he and Clare adjusted their course ever so slightly to bring them onto a slightly different attack run.

The minutes ticked by as Harry selected his Hellfires. He got a report through with only thirty seconds remaining to tell him that all six of his missiles had impacted and detonated taking their targets with them.

__

"Six down." Iain told him as his own report came through.

__

"Five down." Clare and Alex both told him, their own last missiles both being dodged as the element of surprise had vanished after the first twenty-two targets had been taken out.

Harry smirked at their success. Normally Phoenix missiles were rather easy to dodge, they were heavy and by the time they reached their targets they had little fuel left to change direction to chase a dodging target. Against distracted enemies, especially ones that probably didn't have alarms to tell them that they were being targeted, it was easy to hit the targets.

He fired two Hellfires at two larger Goa'uld ships and Alex did the same as the large black bulk of the Prometheus launched itself into the air. He broke right to circle around the more agile X-302s as they dodged the Death Gliders. He flipped the ship in a tight loop and targeted two Death Gliders with his canon which made short work of the two as it targeted the main hull of them splitting them in two.

He received a report that Iain and Clare had taken out six between them to add to Harry and Alex's eight when the ground erupted from below them. He span the ship away from Alex as they dodged to either side of a bright column of gold that lanced up towards the sky. Harry craned his neck around as he turned the Viper in a tight circle and noticed that the column was writhing. They were missiles, a point proven as some of them span away from the and sliced through the Goa'uld ships.

"Prometheus this is Viper Flight, there's a column of missiles heading up into space!" Harry almost yelled through the radio.

He didn't get an answer and didn't need one as he and the rest of the Vipers regrouped with the X-302's. They made sure that all of the Goa'uld ships on the surface were destroyed and then they all just listened to the radio chatter from the Prometheus.

A group of X-302's settled on the Vipers flank and another four on the other side with a group closer to the ground looking for survivors of downed ships. A couple of crashes looked rather bad but the craft themselves looked to be more or less intact.

__

"All X-302s and X-304s go to black and dock with the Prometheus." A voice told them.

__

"This is Jasper Flight, X-302s will comply." Someone said presumably the lead X-302 level with Harry.

"This is Viper Flight, Roger out." Harry glanced out the side window of his cockpit and smirked in amusement. "Jasper Flight, this is Viper Flight, breaking formation. See you on the ground."

The terms were a bit pointless when you took into account that they were docking with a spaceship but they got the idea. _"Understood, Vipers. See you there. Out."_

Harry pulled his nose up without increasing his speed to allow the others to follow suit and then threw his engines into full power. All four Vipers shot into the air and within only half a minute were firmly in the black and turning to head for the Prometheus. The X-302s would still probably be building up the speed necessary to break orbit, if they had the fuel needed without rendezvousing with a camel.

Harry sighed as he eased into the Prometheus' lower docking bay with the other Vipers behind him. They extended their landing struts as the artificial gravity kicked in a pulled them slowly against their thrusters. Harry popped the canopy as soon as the docking bay was pressurised and leapt out glad to be able to move around after so long in the cockpit.

Thirty Six Goa'uld craft downed by only four experimental aircraft. Harry couldn't help but think of the smug look that would soon be on the Kodiak Base's General's face when he got to give the numbers to the Pentagon.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	4. Leaving

Cast Between Worlds

Chapter 4; Leaving

****

Antarctic Air Space

__

"Permission to breach international Air Space has been granted." A voice announced to Harry as they passed into the military no-go zone that had been erected over the Ancient Outpost under the Antarctic ice shelf. It had been a compromise so that the team inside was truly an international one but America had gotten permission for the Vipers to fly in the airspace since flying elsewhere ran the risk of being caught on video by the public.

"Roger, control." Harry replied before switching to the Outposts frequency listed on his computer. "Antarctic outpost, this is Viper flight entering grid seven-alpha for exercises. Request flight information for all immediate areas."

There was a brief pause before a decidedly British voice came across the speakers. _"Viper control, clearance received, heavy inbound through grid eighteen-delta and General's transport helicopter inbound through grid four-charlie. Keep clear of heavy transport."_

"Roger control. Thanks. Viper flight out." Harry was about to switch to the interflight radio even though he knew the others had listened to everything he had said when the voice came back online with an annoyed tone.

__

"Viper Flight this is International Antarctic Control requesting confirmation that your weapons systems are offline." Harry frowned viciously. They knew very well that they couldn't be completely switched off for exercises, how else could they dummy target each other.

"Negative, IAC." Harry told them. "Weapons are cold but systems are online for exercise."

Harry had the distinct feeling that he heard satisfaction in the controller's voice as he came back. _"Roger, Viper Leader. We understand, permission for exercises are confirmed."_

"What was that all about?" Iain asked him over the closed frequency after Harry had acknowledge the permission.

"I don't know, just some higher-up wanting to seem important probably." Harry suggested. "Let's just forget it and give those in IAC something to watch on their screens. Target defence simulations. Two and three are on attack, target is emergency runway seven-alpha. Lock for five seconds wins."

It was a simple run. Harry and Alex would defend an ice field that was an emergency runway about ten miles west of the outpost and Iain and Clare had to get a target lock on a bombing run without getting locked onto in the meantime. It sounded easy for either team before you realised that the Vipers were incredibly fast and agile and very hard to lock onto unless they were straightening for a bombing run. So it was a game of nerves and dodging.

__

"Confirmed, Viper Leader." Iain told him. _"Breaking formation, game start in two minutes."_

"Good Luck two and three." Harry told them before changing frequency to allow Clare and Iain a private line to plot their strategy. He watched two of his trailing Vipers sink down out of formation and turn north and wiggled his own Viper to signal Alex to come up on his side. Alex did as ordered and they flew wing tip to wing tip until they saw something.

Harry stayed at around mid-altitude knowing that Iain could chose either a low run or a high one. While he waited for something to happen he listened to the General's helicopter log in near to the outpost and was amused to recognise Captain Sheppard's codename though he had the vague impression that he had read that he wasn't a Captain any longer. He did note with a grin that it was the newly promoted General O'Neil that he was transporting. _Colonel_ O'Neil had been promoted after he risked his life in the Antarctic three months ago during the attack from Anubis.

Harry noted a blip on the radar and smirked at Iain's attempt to come in low on the north hoping that Harry would expect him to run high and Harry tilted his nose down before noticing another radar blip on the East. A diversion then but who was the one doing the bombing run. "Jasp," Harry directed at Alex. "Take on the higher, I'll take the lower."

He received a double click in confirmation and the two split as Alex climbed vertically to get over the top of the other Viper whilst Harry dove down to gain speed and lock onto Iain. He only just got a lock when his own systems went crazy saying that somebody had locked onto him. He jerked around in his seat trying to spot where Clare had snuck up on him from but couldn't find it.

He frowned and flipped on the Flight screen which would tell him what everyone was doing which he had turned off the screen to so he didn't cheat but none of them had a target lock. "Shit," He swore. "This is Viper Leader. I've got a lock on me. Exercise scrubbed." He span in the opposite direction but the beeping just continued. "All Vipers report."

__

"There's nothing on our screens." Clare told him using her altitude to her advantage.

__

"All inbound craft this is IAC, we have two rogue drones that can seek a target on their own. Land immediately and shut down your engines." The voice had changed into a rather formal one. _"This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."_

"Oh really!" Harry grouched before he levelled off to find out where the drone was. "This is Viper leader, missile inbound, repeat missile inbound." Harry switched on his inter-flight radio to continue. "Viper Flight, bug out and land ASAP."

__

"Are you sure?" Iain argued.

"Viper two, that's an order." Harry told him.

__

"Roger Storm, bugging out." Iain didn't sound at all pleased.

Harry could hear with half of his attention that the helicopter, closer to the outpost, was being targeted by the other. In an instant he made a decision, he'd have to shoot down the other one. "IAC this is Viper Flight, I've got one on me, give me permission for weapons hot and I'll try and take down the other before it hits the heli."

Silence. _Damn politics. _He cursed, he knew that they were supposed to get permission for the International command before giving that permission but that didn't take into account two alien missiles and nobody down there wanted to take the responsibility of giving it without authorisation. He started for where the helicopter was but lost his patience as soon as he saw it on the screen. He dived for the ground as he selected his Hellfires and brought them online and got a satisfying beep that told him that they had locked onto to the golden drone.

"This is Viper Flight executing flight control override, weapons are hot, target locked, firing. Shit!" Harry lost his verbal control just as he fired two missiles. He span the ship in a barrel roll that nearly lodged him into a snow drift as a drone flew at him from the side. He'd forgotten about his own drone. Harry noticed three things in an instant. The first was the golden streak that passed not half a metre from his cockpit window as he dodged it, the second was the exploding missiles as they impacted and destroyed the second drone and the last thing as he levelled out was that the helicopter was stationary on the ground with two figures staring at him.

All this happened in an instant and he was forced to accelerate and dodge through the valleys surrounding the outpost.

__

"This is IAC, we're working on shutting it down." Somebody told him just as he spun around a mountain and pitched the ship over another in an attempt to get the drone to impact the rock instead of him. _"We suggest landing and shutting down."_

"Negative," Harry told them.

"Viper flight, please explain." Somebody told him.

"Negative." Harry repeated without emotion and didn't care that he was being rude as it was taking everything he had to stay one step ahead of the drone since it was far more agile than him. He angled low over an ice drift and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the drone fly straight into the ice and snow. He sighed as he levelled off but got a shock of his life when he caught a streak of gold that tore straight up and through his right wing. It had travelled through the snow and come up under him.

"This is Viper Flight, Mayday, mayday, mayday. The drone came right up through the ground and it's taken my right wing controls with it." Harry told him all the while looking up at the drone as it arced around for another run. He tried to reboot the wing control but even though the wings was still connected it wasn't responding in his position half extended. The other wing was fully extended and the aerodynamics didn't like the combination. "Do something with that thing before it attacks me again!"

He sprung his flares and radar decoys as he attempted to gain some speed but his engine was bleeding its coolant rapidly through a burnt out pipe and it was running ridiculously hot.

He glanced up and almost cheered as the drone shut down from its glowing shape and fell into a dead drop onto the snow. "This is Viper One, missile is dead. Shutting down number two engine."

__

"Viper Flight, can you land safely?" Harry recognised General O'Neil's voice.

"Maybe." Harry answered truthfully.

__

"Can you eject?" O'Neil asked him.

Harry pondered it but with a glance at his core readout and his position in relation to the outpost and more importantly the people in there. He sighed. "Negative Sir, my core is near critical, if the Viper doesn't land smoothly she'll explode and I can't get clear of the outpost in time."

__

"Put her down nice and smooth somewhere then and I'll come pick you up personally."

"Roger." Harry killed the link before angling for a nice smooth glacier, he dropped his speed to a hundred knots since any slower would shut down the air coolers currently stopping him from exploding. He was nearing the ground when the Viper shuddered and he nearly flipped completely. He glanced to the side just in time to see his right wing fully extend before ripping off entirely. The plane inverted before Harry could stop it. "Mayday, wings gone, going in." Harry didn't have a chance to say any more before the plane struck the glacier on the left wing before flipping onto the right. He shut down his engine just as the plane skidded sideways. His head impacted the side window as the plane came to an abrupt stop and he blacked out.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

He knew he hadn't been out long when he woke to hear helicopter rotors nearby and with a groan he punched the cockpit release and watched through bloodied eyes as the shade created by the shield vanished and sun bled onto him. He groaned as somebody pried at his harness and released him from the chair.

"You ok there, Captain?" O'Neil asked him. "Anything broken?"

"Apart from the plane you mean?" Harry joked ignoring the fact he was talking to a General.

"Apart from the plane." O'Neil chuckled.

"My pride." Harry groaned and distinctly heard another person's laugh. "And the nose of whoever fired that thing at me."

"Tell me about it." Sheppard's voice told him. "We owe you I think."

"You think? We definitely owe you." O'Neil told them both. "Come on, let's get you to the outpost. Is this thing safe?"

"The lights off?" Harry mumbled, beginning to lose his vocal functions.

"Yeah," Sheppard told him.

"Then yeah, core's off." Harry let them hoist him out of the cockpit and let them carry him closer to where he could hear the helicopter.

"Let's get in the air, Major." O'Neil told Sheppard. Harry let his eyes close and fell into a blissful sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

He vaguely caught another glimpse of the helicopters ceiling whilst in flight after somebody had wiped the blood out of his eyes. Then another glimpse of corridors and of an elevator, all between bouts of unconsciousness. But the final time he woke up was to see four hovering faces. Two were familiar as Major Sheppard and Colonel O'Neil but the other two were blanks to him and he vaguely wondered if hitting his head had knocked out some memories but he finally concluded that he simply hadn't met them yet.

"What do you think then, doctor?" The woman he didn't recognise asked the other man he didn't recognise.

"He'll be right as rain in a few hours, just a concussion." The Doctor spoke up in a very strong Scottish accent that Harry recognised from around Hogwarts.

"Can you hear us all right?" The woman asked him.

"I can hear you fine, just don't have a clue who you two are." Harry forced himself up onto his elbows on the hard medical bay bed and looked around taking in the fact that he was still in his flight suit and O'Neil and Sheppard were still in their flight suits.

"This is Doctor Weir, the leader here and this is Doctor Becket." O'Neil introduced them, "And I'm guessing you've met the Major before then."

"Classified." Harry smirked but he saw the understanding in the General's face. Harry noticed that Sheppard was rocking on the balls of his feet slightly. "What?" Harry snapped.

Sheppard gave him a cheeky look before speaking. "Doctor Becket here's the one that shot at us." Harry spun his head to look at the Scottish Doctor. "I spared his nose just for you."

"What!?" Becket cried.

"He said he was going to break the nose of who ever shot him down." Sheppard supplied helpfully ignoring Weir's recriminatory look. "Just being informative."

Harry chuckled slightly before looking over at the man in question. "Congratulations."

The four came up short in shock at his words. "Eh?" Was Becket's rather intellectual response.

"You're the first person to ever shoot down a Viper, a thirty-six million dollar aircraft." Harry was happy with his revenge as the man went completely white and collapsed in a chair muttering about experiments and advanced technology.

"Damn, why didn't I think of that one?" Sheppard smirked and Harry dropped back onto the bed with a groan.

"How's my bird?" Harry asked the General.

"Not good at the moment, it's being shipped back to Kodiak but it'll be months before she'll fly again." O'Neil told him and paused so that Harry could let that sink in before continuing. "Your flight team set down in the Falklands without problem and I'll let you call them as soon as possible. You've got guts kid, I'll give you that."

"I just leap in, Sir." Harry sighed.

"Hey, a Sir. That's a start." The General laughed. "Well whatever you do you might just have saved me and Major Sheppard."

"I didn't, the missile on you went dead just before I shot it down. My scanners read it." Harry explained. "You shut down your engines just in time."

"Even so, it's the thought that counts." The General assured him. "I'll get somebody to bring in a camera and a phone link so you can talk to your flight team and then I want you to get some rest."

"Yes, Sir." Harry replied before shutting his eyes to wait.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Colorado Springs

He'd had a ten minute chat with Iain, Clare and Alex to let them know what had happened and they were obviously saddened that it would be so long before he could come back to flying with them. He spent two days under the ice in Antarctica recovering to Doctor Becket's satisfaction and the doctor grew on Harry despite the whole issue of shooting him down. Harry teased him constantly about it and it always riled the man up. He'd also endeared himself to a rather over-zealous scientist by the name of Rodney McKay after he was forced into a rather technologically advanced chair that had been the cause of the drones attacking him. The chair had lit up for him and he had been able to do almost anything that the scientist wanted and since it wasn't contradictory to the doctors orders to take it easy he found himself spending most of the day in the chair.

Becket had asked him how he could sit in it for so long but Harry had admitted that the chair was just as comfortable as his one in the Viper and he was used to spending twenty-four periods in that one.

Harry found himself at home a week later and bored out of his mind. He hadn't been back to Colorado Springs in long months and his flat had a rather sterilised look to it since he had a cleaner that came in once every two weeks for an hour to clean up though it was rather useless since most of the furniture was under dust sheets. The girl next door came in every once in a while to water his few plants and air the apartment. She was his age and whenever he was back they always got together to talk about their respective careers and the teacher always had the most to say though she never minded that he didn't say much about himself.

They weren't romantic since he wasn't interested in girls and although he had had one fling in flight training he hadn't really had the time recently. He dumped his gear on the bed after stripping the dust sheet off of the top. He pulled sheets out of the cupboard so he could make up the bed but just ended up dumping the lot on the pillows for later. If he was back he was at least going to try to enjoy himself.

He changed quickly from his Air Force fatigues and into baggy jeans and the old fashioned leather flight jackets that he liked to wear that actually worked to hide the fact he was a pilot since most wouldn't wear one. His one however didn't have any badges on it, just the air force logo.

He grabbed his cell phone, wallet and keys before locking up his flat and walking the ten or so steps to reach Jessica's door. He noted the cardboard and paper flowers that covered her door, testimony of gifts from her eight year old students, and after finding the doorbell on the frame he rang it without imagination. He moved one of the flowers to cover the peephole so she couldn't see who he was.

"You know, Jessica, this peephole would actually be useful if you could see through it!" A male voice spoke from behind the door.

"What!?" Jessica cried making Harry smile slightly. "I used it when you arrived just ten minutes ago! Just open the door."

Harry was almost laughing as the door swung inwards and a man he didn't recognised looked at him carefully. "Can I help?"

"Uh…yeah, could you tell the lady of the house that her date's back in town?" He smirked at the man's frown before hearing the screech from his best friend.

"Harry!" He was almost bowled over as the petite woman flew herself onto him in a hug. Harry hugged her back. "You covered my peephole again!"

"I know." Harry winked at the man still holding the door open. "I don't think your doorman is quite pleased in this show, Jessica, how about we take it into my flat."

"Oh, Harry! Don't be so mean!" She backed off and slapped him on the arm. "Josh, ignore this prat. He's not my date, he's a rather annoying next door neighbour."

"Oh, you wound me!" Harry grabbed at his chest. "Can I come in or do I have to stand in my own hallway?"

"Oh, right. Yeah." Jessica spun and grabbed Josh's hand and tugged him into the flat. Harry followed and shut the door before looking around slowly.

"I didn't think anyone lived next door." Josh put in suspiciously with a matching glare at Harry who just grinned at him.

"I think I hit a nerve, Jessy-love." Harry grinned.

"Stop that already, Harry. You're making him worry." Jessica glared at him but she still had a smile on her face.

Harry danced to the side and pecked her on the cheek like he always did. "Oh, but it's so much fun and I've been so bored."

Jessica just swatted at him and rolled her eyes before turning to Josh who Harry assumed was the boyfriend if his reaction to Harry's faked flirting was anything to go by. "Harry this is Josh, my boyfriend. Josh this is Harry, my next door neighbour and even though the twit is never here and is as annoying as hell in helping me keep boyfriends he is unfortunately my best friend."

"Yeah, seriously, you don't have to feel threatened by me, I'm more likely to go after you than Jessy here." Harry gave Josh a serious look even as Jessica snorted in amusement. "So, how have you been, Jessy?"

"Oh great!" Jessica told him as she bounced into the kitchen for something. Harry raised an eyebrow at Josh who just gave him an amused look in return. She bounced back in with her handbag. "Come on, we have to go out for dinner now!"

"I was hoping you'd say that." Harry smiled at her complacently as he shrugged apologetically at Josh in case he'd disturbed something.

"Don't worry. She was going to cook." Josh told him.

"Hey! He speaks." Harry laughed before smirking at Jessica. "I know, her idea of cooking is worse than her children's."

"Don't you two start ganging up on me already!" Jessica glared before linking her left arm through Josh's and her right through Harry's and pulled them out the door and down the road to where she and Harry always went.

Harry ordered food and drinks at the bar before finding the two sitting close to each other in one of the private stalls. Harry stretched slightly as he sat. "So, Harry?" Josh started. "What do you do?"

"He's Air Force." Jessica said before Harry could speak.

"Am I not allowed to speak anymore?" Harry teased. "Was I that bad with the faked flirting earlier?"

"Nah, you just always try to dodge it." Jessica smirked at him.

"What sort of thing do you do?" Josh asked.

Harry sighed. "That's why I avoid it." Harry glared lightly at his best friend before turning to Josh. He waited as their drinks were put on the table and he took a quick swig of beer. "Most of what I do is classified. In fact everything after flight school is closed."

"Oh right." Josh said.

"Oh you can be more forthcoming than that, Harry." Jessica reprimanded. "He just doesn't like talking about himself. He flies jets and test flights, but he's listed as one of the best combat pilots in the world."

Harry rolled his eyes and took another swig of his drink. "What do you do, Josh?"

"He's…" Harry reached over and placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from talking. He smirked over at Josh before raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a detective. My son's in her class but he lives with his mother. We're separated." Josh told him correctly pre-empting Harry's next question about how they met.

"Ew!" Harry yanked his hand back. "That's is just gross, I don't want you licking my hand. I don't know where that's been."

Josh snorted into his drink and began to choke but met Harry's amused look with a glare. "How long are you back for, Harry?" Jessica asked just as their food arrived.

"No idea, till they send me new orders." Harry told her truthfully.

"What happened to the last one?" Josh asked.

Harry winced and Jessica saw it. "Spill it, Harry!" She ordered. Harry swallowed his piece of sausage before muttering something. "What was that, speak up?"

"Yes mum." Harry smirked. "I got shot down." His smirked turn victorious as she opened and shut her mouth a few times. "Hey, I shut her up. That'll look better on my record then any medal."

"You can't be serious? Please say you're joking!" Jessica gasped out.

"Nope, no joke." Harry reached up and pulled back his fringe and showed her the rather ragged cut that was slowly healing.

"How'd you do that?" Josh asked.

"Banged my head on the side of the cockpit and my mic. shattered and cut my head. Got a nasty concussion too." Harry explained.

"How'd you get shot down? I didn't know there was any fighting recently." Jessica told him. Harry winced knowing that she kept an eye on everything to do with the Air Force in case he showed up anywhere and so she knew if he could be in any fights.

"Actually it was when a base lost control of an experimental missile. It targeted my ship and blew my wing off." Harry admitted sheepishly. "It wasn't that bad, just my shoddy landing."

"Oh, I'll wring your neck one of these days, Harry." Harry gave her a small smile of gratitude at her concern. "Anyway at least your home for a while."

"Yup, my plane will be dead for at least eight months but they'll find me something on the ground for a while." Harry told her honestly. They chatted while they ate and then for a few drinks before Harry drifted off to talk to a guy at the bar that had been staring at him for most of the night. He sent Jessica and Josh a wink before leading the guy onto the dance floor for a few dances.

They joined him but as always Harry left with just Jessica and this time Josh. They wandered back in a chain with Jessica between them and up to their flats. Harry, however got a shock when he found two uniformed police officers waiting for him. "Are they some of yours?" Harry raised his eyebrows at Josh accusatorily while feeling rather tipsy from the night out.

"Nope." Josh told him. Harry turned back to the two police officers and raised his eyebrows.

"It's very nice of you to guard my door for me but can I actually do something for you?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We've got a telegram for Captain Harry Potter, USAF." One of the said. "Is that you?"

"Not till tomorrow, ten at the earliest preferably." Harry said before turning and planting his head onto the wall and beginning to hit his head lightly against it.

"Sorry sir, but we have orders to deliver it to you personally. Tonight." Harry glanced up at them and Jessica pulled him to face the two again.

"Who's orders?"

"General O'Neil, Sir." The first told him though it was obvious that he didn't know who that was. Harry just groaned before fishing out his wallet and presenting it to the men to rummage through for his driving licence and Military ID. They checked them both to their own pictures before presenting the telegram to Harry. "Good night, Sir."

"Oh I wish." Harry grumbled.

"Harry, be nice!" Jessica reprimanded.

Harry looked over his shoulder. "Thank you!" He yelled at the police officers retreating backs. "I should of shot them."

"What's that?" Josh asked.

Harry glanced down at his hand and the folded and sealed envelope held there. "My new orders."

"What!?" Jessica gasped. "Already! You've only been back five hours."

"I know, sorry." Harry was sobering fast as he always did. "You wanna come in while I read this, then if I have to leave tonight I can say bye."

"Sure." Jessica let him open the door before going through.

"You're welcome too, Josh." Harry said before wandering off to his own room as Jessica helped herself to anything that might have lasted the six months since he last visit. He sat on the bed with a groan before opening the Envelope.

Basically it told Harry that he had been reassigned to a long term off-world mission starting from Cheyenne mountain. He'd be picked up at seven o'clock the next morning and would have the chance once the mission was explained to refuse. The note explained that General O'Neil would ensure that he got a good alternative if he didn't want to but to hear it out. Another note made him frown though. Obviously the General knew he had no next of kin.

Harry dropped the letter into his bag that he hadn't even had a chance to unpack before walking back into his front room. "What did it say?" Jessica asked.

"Classified." Harry sighed. "I leave tomorrow morning and I wont be back for a very long time if I accept it."

"Do you normally get a choice to accept it?" Josh asked.

"Not unless it's very risky." Harry answered honestly.

"Oh." Was Josh's rather abrupt answer.

Harry turned to the man. "Can you give me five minutes with Jessica?" He nodded and walked off to the bathroom. "Jessy-love, I need to ask you a favour."

"Yeah, I'll water your plants." Jessica told him.

Harry laughed. "No, that's not it. He reached out and grabbed her chin and lifted it up. You know I don't have family right?" She nodded. "Well I need to put down a next of kin in case something happens of if they want to contact someone about me. Can I put you down?"

She nodded before hugging him. Harry let her cry on his shoulder. "Do I have to do anything?"

"Nah, I just put your name down and that's it but if you change address you need to call the Air Force and tell them, I'll leave the details for you though in case you need to." Harry smiled at her. "I'm sorry I've gotta leave so soon, you know I'd stay longer if I could."

"I know, but I've really missed you. I've wanted you to meet Josh for months because I think he's going to ask me to marry him." Jessica told him. Harry jerked his head up towards the bathroom door at that.

"Really?" Harry smiled.

"Yeah, well I think so." Jessica told him. "I was hoping to get your opinion first though before I said yes."

"Oh, Jessy-love, it doesn't matter what I think. If you love him then you should follow your heart." Harry told her. "But if it helps I think he's a good guy, worth working on."

She smiled at him gratefully. "I hoped you'd get to know him a bit though."

"I know and I'm sorry." Harry told her. "I don't know when I'm getting back though so don't wait for me or for mail from me."

She nodded and Harry hugged her again as he moved to sit beside her. He settled back against the arm and she leaned on him. Josh joined them and sat on the other end and eventually Harry managed to pass Jessica over to him with a relieved smile.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

The next morning

Harry was on the pavement at exactly seven the next morning wearing his air force uniform. The instructions had told him that he was only allowed one personal item so he had put in his leather jacket but apart from that his bag was rather empty since he had been told that if he took the job he'd get a new uniform.

A humvee pulled up at the kerb and an Air Force Lieutenant got out and saluted him crisply and asked him if he was Captain Potter. He nodded and handed his single bag across, he glanced behind him and up to Jessica's window and sent a mock salute up at the figure he could just make out. He'd hoped that she wouldn't be up to see him off but he hadn't been that lucky.

He got into the passenger seat and they were soon driving Northwest out of the city and to the hidden mountain complex where the Stargate was hidden.

It was an hour drive but as they pulled into the car park he was glad it was over, the lieutenant hadn't been one for small talk. Harry noticed one thing as he made his way through the tunnels and down into the ground following the man, the place was a beehive of activity. The lower he got the more equipment had been stacked into every nook and cranny and was being wrapped for transport. He reached a corridor full of people and was led through a side door and into a control room. He stared without being able to help it at the giant ring that could transport people across the galaxy.

"Captain Potter? This way please." The Lieutenant interrupted him. Harry sent him a cold stare before allowing himself to be led up a spiral staircase and into a conference room above it. "Wait here, Sir."

He was tempted to make a sarcastic comment but decided that it wouldn't be appreciated in a place like this so he chose to retain his cold exterior that he wore ninety percent of the time. "Glad you could make it." General O'Neil smiled at him as he came out of the office at the far end. "Most people stare out the window though."

"I've seen stranger things, Sir." Harry pointed out before glancing sideways through the window. "Though not by much."

"I thought so." The General smirked. "You've met Doctor Weir before and Major Carter but you haven't met Colonel Sumner."

"Colonel, Major, Doctor." Harry greeted in order of superiority though he only put the Doctor last because she wouldn't know the difference.

"Please take a seat." O'Neil ordered. Harry took the end seat opposite the General while the Doctor, Major and Colonel took the seats around the General. "You've been asked to come here because we'd like you to join a mission of great importance. We're going to send a expeditionary force through the Stargate to the Pegasus Galaxy and we'd like you to go along."

"We really don't need another officer along for the ride, Sir." The Marine Colonel came close to glaring at Harry but Harry's cold expression wasn't fazed by it.

"We've been over this Colonel and Captain Potter wouldn't be along for the ride. He'll be able to pull his weight." O'Neil told him and Harry almost smirked. At least the General thought highly of him though Harry had tried to save his life. "Do you accept?"

Harry was about to when Weir spoke up. "We should warn you that this might be a one way mission, everyone has been given the choice to refuse and it is completely voluntarily but where we are going is very dangerous."

"So is this world, Doctor Weir." Harry told her. "Depending on where you go. General, I accept."

"Thought you would. Colonel, I assume you have work to do?" O'Neil dismissed the Marine with a complete lack of subtlety. The man left the room rather crisply. "Don't worry, Captain. Doctor Weir has overriding authority on this mission."

"I'm not worried about him, Sir." Harry admitted.

"Right." O'Neil smirked. "Perhaps we can get onto details since time is running out. On this mission only Doctor Weir has the clearance for your abilities but not full clearance." Harry glanced sharply at the Major since the last time he had checked she hadn't been cleared for his weather abilities, then again the General hadn't been cleared for either that or the Wizarding world either then. "The Major has been cleared as well but she isn't going. Though neither know what I am talking about."

"And you've been enjoying that ever since we got our clearance." Weir told him sharply.

"I'll let you explain, Captain." O'Neil told him. "Though not full clearance for any reason."

"Right, Sir." Harry nodded. "I can manipulate the composition of air with the purpose of charging it to create large scale systems."

"You can't tell me you understood that, Carter." Harry glanced from the General to the Major but could see through her look that she had. He turned to the Doctor who obviously didn't.

"I can create weather systems." Harry told her simply.

"What kind?" Weir asked.

Harry glanced at O'Neil who took over. "Doctor Weir, do you happen to remember the storm that broke over Brazil a year ago?"

"Yes." The doctor answered automatically before looking at Harry. "You can create storms that big?"

"I created that one, Doctor." Harry admitted.

"That's amazing!" Carter gushed. "I wondered how you had high level clearance when I met you on Kodiak but I couldn't find out what for."

"His clearance is still actually higher than either of yours." O'Neil admitted before raising his hands when both gave him hard stares. "Out of my hands. Captain, you are cleared to tell others of your ability in emergency situations but other than that you must have Doctor Weir permission before speaking of it. You're not to speak of anything else."

"Understood, Sir." Harry nodded. "I plan on forgetting about it for the time being."

"I thought you might like this mission, especially since your plane is down." O'Neil told him.

"Thank you, Sir." Harry nodded.

"Don't thank me, the Pentagon wanted you on this mission since it's conception but they didn't want to lose one of the Vipers." O'Neil told him. "You'd best go get ready. The lieutenant will show you to your gear. Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir." He stood and saluted. "Major, Doctor." He nodded at the three before turning and walking back down the stairs to the control room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

With a backpack full of his gear and fully kitted out for combat with a P-90 hanging from his front he walked into the embarkation room. He glanced around at everyone and spotted Doctor McKay ordering scientists around and Doctor Becket doing the same with medical supplies. Another man was standing on his own at the back of the room just watching everything in amusement and Harry walked over to him.

"Major Sheppard." Harry greeted with a small salute.

"Captain Potter." Sheppard looked relieved. "Thank god, I thought I was going to have to let Marines watch my back!"

"I noticed there seems to be a lot of Marines here." Harry agreed.

"Hand picked by Colonel Sumner." Sheppard told him.

"Joy." Harry mused. "Seems that sitting in that chair got us both in this situation then."

"It worked for you too then?" Sheppard asked.

"Yup." Harry sighed. "And since Doctor Becket over there shot me down I'm stuck here." He raised his voice at the end just as Becket walked passed them and the man jumped to look at him.

"Captain Potter!" Becket went red. "When are you going to let me live that down?" It seemed the room had all stopped to look at them both.

"When my plane flies again." Harry told him though he had a distinct twinkle in his eyes.

"Captain Potter! Don't disrupt the scientists. We have too much work to do here already without you interfering!" Harry's eyes turned cold again as Colonel Sumner walked into the room with a Lieutenant next to him. Harry decided he liked the other kid better since he looked to be Harry's age. Becket drifted off and Harry turned to face the Colonel. "I've read both your files and I'm against either of you being here. I understand that we need Major Sheppard here to run the chair but we only need one so I don't see why we need you, Captain."

There was a question in the order. "That would be classified, Colonel." There was a sharp edge to Harry tone. "And so is most of my file so you shouldn't judge me on the bit you can get into, Sir."

The Sir part was rather delayed. "I have clearance for every detail of this mission, Captain."

"Not high enough, Sir." Harry told him. "Only Doctor Weir has high enough clearance to know why I am here."

"Just remember who gives the orders around here." The Colonel told them both.

"That would be Doctor Weir then?" Sheppard smirked. The Colonel walked off as Harry chuckled. The Lieutenant lingered for a moment as he eyed to the two before he walked off.

"Thanks." Harry nodded. "I was about to lose my patience."

"No problem, what's this with Weir's clearance." Sheppard asked subtly.

"Sorry, Major." Harry sighed. "Only Weir has high enough clearance for that."

"So she has the highest clearance, so she knows about our missions?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know if she has black ops clearance, and most of my file is still closed to her." Harry admitted.

"You mean your clearance is still higher than hers?" Sheppard asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry nodded. "Sucks to be you." Harry nodded again before turning his attention to the gate.

It was another half an hour before everyone was gathered and Doctor Weir finally walked into the room and turned to face them all. "Can I have everyone's attention, please? All right, here we go. We are about to try to make a connection. We have been unable to predict exactly how much power this is going to take, and we may get only the one chance at this. So if we are able to achieve a stable wormhole, we're not going to risk shutting the gate down. We'll send in the MALP robot probe, check for viability, and go. Everything in one shot." She paused as she looked over all of them.

Harry glanced at Sheppard with a small twitch of the lips sharing the fact that even though the situation involved intergalactic travel they had been in the same situations before. Being dropped into unknown territory with no chance of a pickup until they had completed the mission and gotten to a safe zone.

"Now every one of you volunteered for this mission, and you represent over a dozen countries." Harry glanced around at the arms of all of the members of the team wearing small flag badges on their left upper arms of all nationalities. Harry's had two side by side, the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes side by side. Weir continued. "You are the world's best and brightest, and in light of the adventure we are about to embark on, you're also the bravest. I hope we all return one day having discovered a whole new realm for humanity to explore, but as all of you know, we may never be able to return home. I'd like to offer you all one last chance to withdraw your participation." She paused expectantly but nobody so much as twitched. Weir smiled broadly before she looked up at the control room window. "Begin the dialling sequence."

"How long have you know about this?" Sheppard asked him as the inner ring of the gate began to spin.

"Since just after Brazil." Harry told him. "You?"

"Since I took the General to the outpost."

Harry snorted. "Oh, you are so in for it." Harry chuckled realising that the man didn't know anything about the Goa'uld or any of the other races out there expect what he might have been able to cram into the last week or so.

The gate exploded outwards and Harry who hadn't actually seen it before flinched but more because the pressure in the room rapidly changed and stung his senses. He almost had to grip his head as a headache settled in and he released a small growl. Sheppard stared at him but Weir who had moved to near the two military men spoke first.

"Captain Potter, are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine Doctor Weir, just sensitive to pressure changes." He caught her eye and she nodded to show she understood before turning back to the gate. Harry made a mental note to be prepared for it the next time. Harry and Sheppard moved forwards to near the front of the column as the MALP went through the portal.

__

"MALP shows viable life support." Somebody from the control told them.

"Let's go, people. We don't know how much power we've got." Colonel Sumner announced as he readied his P-90. "Security teams one and two, you're up first. All the personnel will follow on our signal. Once on the other side, keep moving, clear the debarkation area. On my lead!"

"Hold on Colonel!" Weir ordered and struggled to put on her backpack though it was considerably lighter than Harry's and Sheppard's were. Harry reached over and hoisted it squarely onto her shoulders. "We go through together."

Sumner stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Fair enough." The two headed through and vanished.

"Well no time like the present." Sheppard sighed before stepping up onto the ramp with Harry on one side and the Marine Lieutenant on the other.

__

"All clear." Sumner's voice came back through the portal onto their ear pieces. _"It looks good."_

"What's it feel like?" Sheppard asked the Marine Lieutenant.

"Hurts like hell." He replied with a serious face before leaping backwards through the portal. Harry shook his head before bringing his P-90 to bear and stepping through with Sheppard at his side.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Atlantis

Harry appeared in a dark room. Low lights lit the area but even as they watched more came to life as if reacting to the explorers in front of them. Harry held his left hand out in front of him with a frown. The air was perfectly clean but something was bugging at him. He walked forwards towards where Weir was standing staring around her at the room and the dozens of people flooding through the wormhole along with equipment.

"Teams one and two, secure the immediate area." Sumner ordered his Marines. Harry walked with the woman in charge for a while even as he saw Sheppard moving further into the front and towards a set of stairs up to a second floor. "Everyone else, find an open space and park it until instructed otherwise." At the moment the military were in control and the scientists were simply along for the ride until they could safely be unleashed.

Harry aimed up at the ceiling suddenly as he felt something wrong around him. His weather control spread out in response to his shock. Harry registered the static charge in the air as his abilities tried to get loose. "We've got a low static charge building!" One of the scientists by the MALP told them.

Weir surprised Harry by looking straight at him to find him looking up at the ceiling along his P-90. He angled the gun down at the ground at met her gaze with a glazed expression. "I don't like this." Harry told her quietly before bottling his ability up carefully.

"The charge disappeared." The scientist was obviously relieved and Harry smiled slightly at her.

"Sorry." Harry apologised though he didn't really mean it.

"What don't you like?" Weir asked.

"The air outside." Harry told her. "I can sense it, there is barely any oxygen and a lot of water."

"What does that mean? A storm?" Weir asked quietly. Harry glanced around, everyone was too busy with their own things, Sheppard was wandering up to the second level and Colonel Sumner was directing exploration teams.

"No, we're under water. A long way underwater." Harry winced.

Weir's eyes widened slightly before she ran off. Harry hoped that she had the sense not to go blurting that out until she had something more than Harry's words as proof. He knew it was true but Weir couldn't exactly say that Harry's weather control abilities had told him that.

Harry caught up to Sheppard and Weir nearing the control room on the second floor. "Who's doing that?" Weir asked referring to the consoles and other devices around the room that were coming to life. She'd obviously put his comment to one side for the time being.

Harry pressed his cheek microphone. "Colonel Sumner, any signs of alien activity?" He asked.

__

"Security teams? Any alien contact?" They all hear Sumner ask from below them.

__

"Negative Sir." Came the first answer.

__

"Team four, negative, Colonel." Harry listened to the last report before tapping his own microphone twice to show that he had heard and not to waste the Colonel's time by relaying it pointlessly.

"The lights are coming on by themselves." Sheppard pointed out logically.

"That's everyone." Colonel Sumner reported to Weir as he joined them at the top of the stairs.

Weir grabbed her radio from her pocket and thumbed it on. "General O'Neill? Atlantis base offers greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy. You may cut power to the gate."

Harry stayed near the top of the stairs as the rest slowly made their way down and even though he saw the bottle of champagne come through the wormhole he ignored it in favour of shutting his eyes and concentrating on his powers. With the water surrounding the city of Atlantis he could easily make out the mass of air that filled its corridors. It was massive.

He felt Sheppard grab his arm before he noticed that the room had slowly come back to life as teams spread out to explore the immediate area though this time with scientists to accompany them. Weir entered the control room from the opposite side without her bag which she had obviously dumped somewhere and already Harry could hear the reports from the exploration teams with the scientists chatting happily and trying to get Doctor Weir's attention.

Sheppard brushed against a console and it lit up with a sharp whine. "I didn't touch anything!" He held up his hands in surrender as everyone turned to look at him and Harry snorted with amusement.

"Relax, Major." Weir assured him with a small smile. "It's like the entire complex is sensing our presence and coming to life."

"This has got to be the control room. This is obviously their version of a DHD." McKay told them.

"Oh, obviously." Sheppard said rather sarcastically though only Harry saw his actual confusion.

"He means a Dial-Home-Device." Harry told him in a whisper from next to his shoulder. "It controls the gate."

"Oh." Sheppard cast him a grateful look but was obviously shocked that Harry had realised that he didn't know what it was.

Harry shrugged before turning his attention back to the 'egg-heads' in the room. McKay moved across the room oblivious to anybody else. "This device could be power control systems, possibly a computer interface. Something…"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Weir interrupted before he could continue. "Why don't you find out?"

"Right." McKay nodded and once again nobody else existed.

__

"Doctor Weir, this is Colonel Sumner." A voice came over the military radio. The scientists were on a separate frequency but Doctor Weir carried both. _"Can you come down and meet me, please? We're three levels down from you."_

"Right away." Weir spoke into the radio before glancing at both Harry and Sheppard who both shrugged to say that neither had a clue. Weir smirked at them both though they didn't know that it because they had looked like identical twins in that moment. Both had messy black hair and similar lithe builds and a coiled tension beneath the surface that warned anybody smart not to toy with them. Their only main differences were their eyes since Sheppard had brown eyes and Harry a glittering green one. Also Harry only came up to Sheppard's shoulder in height and was in fact shorter than Weir who was rather tall.

Harry and Sheppard walked down through the complex and after Harry spoke to the Colonel again on the radio they found him standing in what looked to me private rooms with a large window that looked out over the city. Harry ignored the others with a small gulp and made his way to the window.

"We've only been able to secure a small fraction of the place. It's huge." Sumner told them all and Harry had to agree. He could see a long section of the city spread out in front of him in what seemed to be a jetty like structure and it was at least two miles long. Harry frowned as he realised that they were so much higher than any of it that they were probably in the centre of the structure which meant that they were standing in the middle of an absolutely huge structure though it wasn't as large as cities on Earth.

"So it might really be the lost city of Atlantis?" Weir asked without looking closely at what was surrounding them. Harry however didn't mind having his theories proven. They were in fact underwater. He traced the glass with his finger tips and frowned. There was a layer of air around the outside of the glass that wasn't mixing with the water.

"I'd say that is a good bet." Sumner nodded though Harry didn't see him.

"Oh, my God!" Weir suddenly dashed to the window and stared at the water. "We're underwater!"

"Told you so." Harry muttered though only Weir and possibly Sheppard on his other side heard him. Weir gave him a harsh glare before turning to listen to Sumner.

"I'd say we're under several hundred feet of ocean. If we can't dial out this could be a problem." Sumner announced.

"There's a shield surrounding the buildings." Harry announced loud enough for all to hear.

"You can't possibly know that." Sumner argued.

"With all due respect, Sir. But how else do you explain the fact that these buildings are totally dry inside after several thousand years under this much water." Harry told them but caught Weir's eyes to tell her that this wasn't the reason he had used to come to that conclusion.

"This was built by the Ancients after all. A Shield isn't completely out of the question." Weir nodded just as McKay dashed into the room looking slightly out of breath.

"Colonel, Doctor Weir." He caught their attention even though his loud entrance already had.

"We're underwater." Sheppard announced though Harry couldn't work out whether he was simply stating it or prompting McKay's words.

"Yes, I was just trying to tell you. Fortunately, some sort of a force field is holding back the... w- water." Harry grinned at the Colonel in victory and bounced on the balls of his feet a few times. "Oh, that is impressive, isn't it? Uh, Doctor Beckett has found something you should see."

McKay spun on his heels with a vague 'come hither' gesture and Weir and Sumner followed him. Harry frowned slightly looking back out of the window and down at the city below him. He tapped the glass again though his senses weren't focusing on the window but at the lack of air in the furthest section of city that he could see. Instead their was just a continuation of the high water mixture atmosphere. It was flooded.

"Are you alright?" Sheppard asked him and Harry jumped and swung his P-90 on the man before instantly releasing it with both hands to show he wasn't going to fire.

"Sorry, I got distracted." Harry told him.

"You do that a lot." Sheppard pointed out.

"Don't worry, I wont let you down in a fight." Harry told him rather harshly and saw the man tense up ever so slightly. "Perhaps we should go, Sir."

The glimmer of amusement that had been in Sheppard's eyes when Harry had rounded on him with his gun vanished completely at the Sir and he nodded before heading out of the room. The group was long gone and Harry glanced at his watch to see that he'd probably wasted a good five minutes staring out of the window.

He grabbed his radio and switched it to the scientist's frequency. "McKay?"

__

"Captain?" McKay answered and Harry ignored the irritated tone.

"If your highness is too busy to do it himself perhaps you'll point me in the right direction of somebody that can check the integrity of those shields." Harry asked with faked sweetness.

__

"Grodin? Did you hear that?" McKay asked.

__

"Yeah, Rodney. I'm on it." Grodin, a computer wizz, told them.

"I'll meet you in the control room." Harry announced over the radio before turning to Sheppard. "Perhaps you should catch up to the others, Sir?"

Sheppard frowned at him but the sudden tense atmosphere between the two made Sheppard take up the offer and disappear down the corridors as Harry climbed the stairs to the control room. Harry knew he shouldn't be that harsh but he didn't like it when people questioned his ability to hold his own and it had hit rather harshly when the man that had seen him fail and get his friend killed accused him of being distracted even if he had been. It made him remember that Sheppard was his senior officer and that Harry was supposed to take orders from him and not befriend him. Having friends in the military just got them killed or at least made it hurt all the more if they did die. He'd even taken that mantra to heart with Iain, Alex and Clare. Though they were friendly Harry only went out with them off duty when it was a formal affair or if they were actually celebrating something and he had kept his cold mask up for most of it though he was in fact friendlier with them than any other.

He knew that his record declared him as a loner and liable to refuse other's aid but that would just stop people risking their lives for him and getting hurt.

"What have you got, Grodin?" Harry asked as he entered the control room to see several rather pale scientists looking at him.

"The shields are weakening and power levels over the whole city are beginning to fall. Rapidly." Grodin told him.

"And the shields are collapsing in the outer areas and the city is flooding?" Harry asked and received a nod. Harry touched his cheek microphone, his military radio and spoke. "Colonel Sumner, Doctor Weir, we have a problem. Power rates are dropping like stones and the shields in the outer reaches are collapsing. You need to get up here five minutes ago. Potter out."

He turned to see Grodin ordering scientists to find the generators that they had brought with them and find a place to plug them into the city. "It won't help for long, Captain, but it might buy us some time." Grodin told him with a shrug.

"What are you talking about?" McKay came at a run and Harry moved out of the way to let the scientists talk quickly in their own language about the problem. Harry noticed Doctor Beckett looking rather nervous off to the side as McKay started typing on his laptop like he had a very tight deadline which Harry supposed that he did.

"Please tell me this isn't my fault?" Beckett asked with a panicked look. Really the man worried too much.

"No." Was McKay's rather blunt response. "From what we've been able to ascertain, this city is powered by three Zero Point Modules. Two are entirely depleted, and the third is reaching maximum entropy. When it does, it'll die too, and nothing can reverse that."

"Just tell me the bottom line." Sumner told him.

"The force field holding back the ocean has collapsed to its minimum sustainable levels." He gestured to his screen but Harry had already seen the damage. "Look, you can see here and here, where the shields have already failed and the city's flooded. It could've happened years ago. This section is likely more protected because of the Stargate."

"What if it fails completely?" Sheppard asked.

"It's a matter of when, not if." McKay countered.

"Colonel Sumner, you need to order your search teams to stop exploring the city immediately." Weir announced.

"All security teams fall back to the gate room immediately." Sumner announced into the radio.

"It's not going to be good enough." McKay pointed out.

"How much time do with have?" Harry asked not seeing the point in all these whats and ifs.

"It's hard to say, maybe hours, maybe days if we minimize power expenditure." McKay told him directly.

"What about our own power generators?" Beckett asked.

"We're working on that, but even with our most advanced naquadah power generators, the equations are coming up far short." McKay sighed.

"We need a few Ion Cores." Harry spoke up and McKay gave him a withering glance since the scientist knew that they might work. They were the most powerful generators in the world.

"Unfortunately we're a few million light years too far away for those." McKay told him. Harry shrugged.

"So we need to find more ZPMs." Weir deduced with a sigh.

"How do we do that if we can't search the city?" Sumner asked.

"If there were more here, we'd be able to sense them." McKay told them confidently.

"We can use the Stargate can't we?" Harry asked knowing that it was possible.

"There is nowhere near enough power left to open a wormhole back to Earth." McKay countered.

"What about somewhere in this Galaxy?" Sheppard asked realising what Harry had meant.

"That's relatively easy." McKay muttered to himself before standing and walking to the DHD console. "Fortunately, some Ancient technology still uses good old-fashioned push buttons, so we've been able to access the Stargate control system and a library of known gate addresses in the database."

"That's not all, look at this." Grodin pushed a button and out in the gate room a yellow shield came to life over the Stargate.

"Using power." McKay muttered over and over and Harry would have grinned if the situation wasn't so dire. Grodin turned it off again with a sheepish look.

"Well, at least we don't have to deal with any uninvited guests. Colonel, assemble a team. We need safe harbour, or better still, another power source." Weir ordered with a look at the colonel.

"Lieutenant Ford, gather security teams one and two. Everyone gear up." Sumner ordered through the radio and Harry watched out of the window as everyone came to life. The Colonel turned and left the room heading for the Stargate.

"Major, I'd like you to go along." Weir requested more than ordered. Harry turned on her with a frown. "Captain, I need an officer to stay here otherwise I'll lose control of the security teams."

Harry turned to Sheppard for help. "Yes ma'am." Was all that Sheppard said before holding Harry's gaze which turned extremely cold as his features went emotionless. Sheppard obviously didn't trust him in combat.

"Understood, Sir." Harry turned on his heel and walked passed the scientists and out of the room. He stood on the walkway that led to what seemed to be an office as the Stargate activated and one by one the twelve members of teams one and two as well as Major Sheppard and Colonel Sumner disappeared through the event horizon.

"Captain Potter?" Harry gave the Doctor a cursory glance before staring back at the others. "Harry?"

This time Harry did look at the woman though his expression gave away nothing about his emotions. "Doctor Weir?"

"Please, call me Elizabeth. I've already asked Colonel Sumner to do the same, I am not so used to military formality as you." Harry didn't respond so she continued. "I'm sorry I didn't send you out but I need military personnel here that I know and trust."

"I'm not here to baby sit the Marines," Harry told her. "I'm here because I can be used as an effective weapon against massive numbers of enemy forces."

That's what his record stated anyway though in slightly more diplomatic terms. "I can understand that but I don't know any of the Marines here at the moment and I need to be sure that they will take my orders." Weir told him.

"How do you know that I will take your orders?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know your record says that you can be a bit cavalier with orders but you only do it when the situation demands it. You are the same as John in that respect." Weir told him using Sheppard's first name. "I trust that you'll follow my orders when I need you to but I don't want to alienate you from the others to do it. I can see that things aren't perfect between you and John and I'm not going to ask about the history involved."

Harry frowned at her slightly before wiping the expression from his face. "I've read your files about your mission in Brazil. About you and John going against your orders and infiltrating the enemies base without authorisation." She held up a hand to stall his protests and continued. "I know that you were only doing it because you believed that somebody in Command was passing on information to the Rebels and you were right and you risked your life to rescue an ally even though you didn't manage it. For that I trust your judgement."

"You trust me based on that?" Harry asked her. "Then you should know that I failed in that mission. I made the wrong decision in making Major Sheppard wait for reinforcements. I failed the person I was supposed to rescue and I nearly destroyed half of Brazil. Was there anything else you needed, ma'am?"

She gaped at him for a moment having never thought that he felt that way about the mission. In the records she had read about him and the Major she had gotten the impression that the mission was a complete success and that the death of the single captive was an acceptable loss even if not to her standards. Eventually she noticed that he was waiting patiently for her. "Can you gather the Marines and ensure that they have everything they need in case we need to evacuate?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry nodded before stepping passed her and into the control room sending a cold look at McKay who had obviously been listening to the conversation. He wondered vaguely who else had heard. Probably most of the scientists in the control room.

It wasn't his problem. He snapped on his cheek microphone and spoke bluntly. "All NCOs, Captain Potter. I need to see all of you in front of the Stargate immediately."

He spent fifteen minutes talking to the non commissioned officers about what could be left behind and what had to be taken before dismissing them to their individual teams to carry out their packing and readying for evacuation. He caught Doctor Weir watching him from the control room as the Sergeants moved away from him. It wasn't his fault that she thought far to highly of him and that Sheppard thought too little of him but it didn't make his life here any less difficult because of it.

He helped the soldiers and scientists pack away the vital equipment that they'd have to take through with them until the Stargate activated. They cleared the area even as the shield came up over the gate.

__

"Atlantis Base, please come in." The voice wasn't panicky so Harry assumed they were just reporting in. He glanced up to the control room but they were staring at him and the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and he pressed his cheek microphone.

"Doctor Weir is currently unavailable, do you have a report?"

__

"Captain Potter." The voice acknowledged him. _"The team has met up with the indigenous people and have been invited back to their camp."_

"Camp?" Harry asked. "What was their technological level?"

__

"Not sure Sir, we didn't see any weapons or technology but they seemed less advanced." The man told him.

"Understood, keep in contact. Potter out."

The Stargate shut down with a sharp retort and Harry watched as the shield died away before switching to the scientist's frequency since Weir obviously wasn't monitoring the military one. "Doctor Weir, off world team reports meeting friendly indigenous people and being invited to their camp."

__

"Thank you, Captain Potter." The line went dead but Harry didn't miss the tense way she had said his name as if she was covering from almost saying his first name. Oh, how he wished Jessica was here.

Harry spent most of the next half a day making sure that the base personnel were prepared to clear Atlantis at short notice and most of their equipment was ready to go near to the gate. He'd just received a report from Lieutenant Ford to tell him that they were exploring a ruined Ancient city and ten minutes later was walking into the room where that had first seen the water from.

He kept quiet as Grodin consulted a PDA with a solemn look. "There." He pointed through the window just as a shock wave rippled through the water and an explosion of large bubbles rushed to the surface. Weir sighed explosively. Grodin turned and saw Harry and nodded at him before strolling passed and presumably back to where McKay was panicking.

"Is there anything you can do?" Weir asked him with a rather desperate, yet resigned, look.

"It's possible that I could increase the internal pressure to match the outside one but to do that I would have to pull in all the air from the surrounding parts of the city and create a vacuum there." Harry told her. "It's only theoretical but even if I had the strength to, it was kill anyone in the area that I increased the pressure in even if I could create enough pressure to hold up the walls when the shield fails."

She sighed at him. "It would mean sacrificing the rest of the city."

"For only the gate room and control room." Harry told her. "It wouldn't be worth it and would be pointless anyway since I could never maintain it long enough for you to find a ZPM."

Weir nodded resolutely just as the entire structure shook violently. "It seems we're out of time." They both rushed back to the control room even through the shaking structure.

"The city is sacrificing parts of itself in order to maintain these main areas, but catastrophic failure is inevitable." McKay told them as soon as they entered.

"Not in my wildest dreams did I hope to find the Lost City of the Ancients, so completely untouched, so pristine, and we have no choice but to walk away from this?" She was obviously pleading for some sort of miracle.

"In order to save it." McKay assured her.

"To save it for whom? We don't have enough power to send a message. As far as Earth is concerned, we're just going to be missing, presumed lost." Weir countered.

"We'll be back." McKay told her sternly. "We'll find a power source somewhere in Pegasus."

"We have yet to hear from Colonel Sumner. We have no idea what's out there." Weir pointed out.

"It'll be better than drowning, Doctor Weir." Harry pointed out logically and she sighed before turning to the balcony. Harry made his way down the steps listening to her voice over the radio.

"Attention all personnel. This is Weir." She spoke into both radios at the same time. "Stand by for immediate evacuation. Dial the gate!"

The room shook again violently and Harry was one of the only ones that kept his balance partly because the air here, even alien as it was, was still working for him and it buffered him from the shaking ground. "You heard the Doctor!" Harry yelled over the rumbling. "Marines, get these scientists up and get their equipment moving. When that gate opens I want you through it or you'll have me to answer to!"

They glanced at him before hurrying to gather the scientists into manageable groups with only the equipment that could be carried ready to go. Harry watched as the gate began to dial again and then as another sequence, a faster one, overtook the gate. _"Incoming Wormhole!"_ Grodin announced through his radio on his chest pocket.

"Defensive positions!" Harry ordered and he and the Marines took positions between the scientists and the gate even as the non military men backed away into corners to avoid any fire. Harry hunkered down next to a Sergeant behind a raised section of flooring that led to the Stargate. He aimed along his P-90 even as the shield came up and the wormhole opened under it.

__

"Lieutenant Ford's identification code!" Grodin announced and a second later the shield shut down. Sheppard was the first through but the two behind him made Harry and the Sergeant straighten slightly and take better aim.

"Friendlies, Captain!" Sheppard told him and Harry lowered his P-90, a motion copied around him.

"Major Sheppard, who are all of these people?" Weir asked as she came up to them. Already at least two dozen refugees had stepped through the event horizon being led in by members of teams one and two. Harry nodded to the Marines around him and they helped to lead them away.

"Survivors from the settlement. We were attacked. Sumner and several of our men were taken." Sheppard told her just before the room gave a colossal lurch that nearly sent the refugees onto the ground. "What is going on?"

"We are in no position to help anyone right now." Weir told him hurriedly.

"What the hell's going on?" Sheppard demanded.

"We were trying to abandon the city before we all drowned, Sir." Harry told him bluntly with a glance at the new refugees.

"Going back there is a really bad idea." Sheppard pointed out with a wave at the newly closed Stargate.

"Major Sheppard," Weir started. "The shield is about to fail, and the ocean is about to come crashing down on us. Do you have any better place for us to go?"

"Jinto?" Sheppard turned to a boy hanging at his shoulder who had so far being eyeing Harry's cold expression with something akin to fear. "Do you have another address we can gate to?"

"Yes, many." The boy told Sheppard with a nod.

"He's just a boy." Weir commented. Harry mused that if she knew all the things Harry had done at the fourteen year old's age she wouldn't be thinking that. Sheppard, it seemed, didn't care for her words either and dragged the boy up the stairs just as another lurch sent them all over the place. Harry grabbed Weir's arm to stop her from falling.

"The shield is collapsing!" McKay's yell carried down to them before Sheppard could get even half way up the stairs with Jinto.

Another lurch sent everyone down to their knees though Harry remained standing with his hands holding Doctor Weir up. He closed his eyes just as Grodin announced that he was dialling a random address.

"No! Wait!" Harry yelled making Weir look at him in confusion before she and the others felt the increased gravity half holding them to the floor. The air buffered around Harry slightly to keep him up and the room shook violently but instead of vibrations it was now obvious that they were moving.

"We're moving!" Weir announced with awe in her voice. Light flooded through the top windows as the central tower of the city burst through the surface and as Harry gasped at the feeling of open air around the city again he loosened his grip on Weir just enough that when she spun to look up at the window a lurch sent her falling to the ground. Harry braced himself against the sudden increased velocity as the city, no longer held down by the water began to reach out into the air. Even if he wasn't buffered by the air he knew he could probably have kept to his feet since he was a Jet pilot and used to changing G-Forces and direction. Sheppard wasn't a jet pilot and neither were any of the others on the team and they weren't that lucky.

They came to a slow stop and Harry gave Weir a hand to her feet before she went up the stairs. Harry turned to the awed Marines and almost chuckled at the look on Ford's face when he realised that Harry was alone in his ability to ride out that experience standing. "Let's get these people stowed away, Lieutenant Ford. Set up a perimeter but don't explore more than two floors below us. Get them comfortable but not permanent."

Ford nodded at him. "Understood, Sir."

Harry followed the direction Weir had taken up to the control room. He was just in time to hear McKay reporting to Weir. "The last Zero Point Module is depleted, but limited power returned, now that our generators don't have to hold back an ocean. Life support systems are working, but the planet's atmosphere is breathable. Not withstanding the inevitable allergens." He said the last part rather bitterly.

"So now could our naquadah generators supply enough power to the shield for defensive purposes?" Weir asked.

"Not even close." McKay shook his head.

Harry butted in. "Doctor, Major." He greeted them both. "Lieutenant Ford and the Marines are setting up a perimeter two floors below us and getting the refugees stowed away with the equipment until we can man a proper floor by floor sweep and find more long time accommodation for them."

Weir nodded at him but Sheppard just turned on McKay. "When can you tell me where the Wraith took Colonel Sumner and the others?"

"Even with the six symbols Lieutenant Ford provided, there are still hundreds of permutations." McKay told him. Harry wondered how in ten minutes Ford had managed to get the symbols to McKay. Probably through the Major.

"Seven hundred and twenty." Sheppard told him bluntly.

"Yes, I knew that of course." McKay spoke. "I'm just surprised that you did."

"Take away the coordinates you can't get a lock on, and that's your one. And when you find it, send a MALP." Sheppard ordered. McKay frowned but walked off to do as asked.

"Major. A word." Weir spoke simply before motioning for Harry to follow them to a window that looked out at the horizon. Before they could walk up to it though for privacy the whole window snapped back and opened out onto rather wet balcony. They glanced at each other before stepping out. The door shut behind them.

Harry grinned in relief as the fresh breeze swept over him and when he looked down again Weir was offering him a small smile. Harry wiped the happy expression off of his face and put his emotionless mask back into place. She turned away from him and leant against the railing.

"Let me guess. You're not going to let me rescue our people." Sheppard offered as he too leant against the railing.

"Major. You don't even know if they're alive." Weir pointed out.

"You don't leave people in the hands of the enemy, and the fact we are having this conversation in private let's me know that you know damn well that it's wrong. And it will totally undermine your leadership. So as ranking military officer, I…" Sheppard was cut off as Weir held up a hand.

"All right, just shut up and listen to me for a moment, all right?" Weir glanced at Harry but he didn't offer her any help. He was all for rescuing their people. "Come on, what do we know about the Wraith? One of the few things we do know is that they are the enemy that defeated the Ancients. When we first began to use the Stargate we found on Earth, we got ourselves into serious trouble. Why?"

"I don't need a history lesson." Sheppard told her smartly. He probably didn't actually know.

"Because the people in charge didn't consider the ramifications before they acted." Weir told him.

"They took our people. How am I supposed to react?" Sheppard glared at her.

"And we are defenceless! You said so yourself!" Weir argued. "How do you know going off on some half-assed rescue mission isn't going to bring them all right back here to our doorstep?"

"Maybe it will but it's the right thing to do." Sheppard countered. "Why? Because it is."

Harry frowned at his response. "I agree with the Major." He told her. "If we're going to hide from the wraith we may as well just concentrate on making a wormhole back to Earth and leaving again. Because we are going to end up fighting them."

"You don't know that." Weir countered.

"We have people in the enemies hands, with identification codes to our shields." Harry told her. "We have no idea what the wraith are capable of."

"Our people wouldn't give out the identification codes." Weir countered and even Sheppard seemed to agree with her.

"I know of at least half a dozen ways to make the Major give up the codes if I wanted to." Harry told her. "We don't know what powers the Wraith have."

Sheppard frowned at him but Harry just continued. "I've been a captive before Doctor as the Major well knows. I might have gotten out before anything serious could be found out but that was against humans, not the race that defeated the Ancients."

"I just need more information." Weir was starting to look panicked. "I mean, who knows maybe we can negotiate a peaceful…"

"Peaceful?" Sheppard interrupted her. "Are you kidding? We were only there for a couple of hours before the wraith showed up."

"Is it possible that they came because of you?" Weir pointed out. "And one of these people you brought back here with you tipped them off?"

"It's possible." Sheppard admitted.

"See that is exactly the snap decision that I was referring to." Weir argued.

"They are not all bad people." Sheppard told her. "And you know if we're going to stick around here, we need friends."

"Okay, I see your point. Now you see mine. I will not authorize a rescue mission unless I'm sure there is at least a remote chance of success." Weir told him. "I'm not sending more good people, including you, to their deaths."

"Okay." Sheppard seemed to deflate before he walked back inside with a rather defeated look on his face.

Harry grabbed Weir by the arm as she turned to follow him. "You need an advantage, what about me?"

"We have no idea what kind of situation you'd be going into. I can't risk sending you in as a weapon." Weir told him.

"I might not be as old as Colonel Sumner or the Major and I might be new at going through the gate but I can look after myself, Doctor." Harry snapped. "I've been in more wars then you know existed in the last ten years. You need an advantage over the wraith and I'm exactly the thing for it."

"I'm not just going to use you as a weapon of war, Harry." Weir countered.

Harry's eyes turned evil as a dark look spread over them that made Weir shudder. "I am a weapon, Doctor Weir. I have been since I was born. The US just put more teeth on me. Don't treat me like a precious commodity."

"You're still a human being." Weir pointed out.

Harry smirked victoriously. "And so are our people in the Wraiths hands. None of them are any less important than you, me or the Major." Harry told her. "You know what we did in Black Ops, this is what we are trained for." He turned his back on her and walked into the building and down the corridors to find Ford and oversee the expansion of their 'safe zone.'

It was almost half an hour later that the two, Harry and Lieutenant Ford, walked into the control room to find a half smiling Major Sheppard and an irritated Doctor Weir waiting for them.

"What is it, Doctor Weir?" Harry asked still wielding his P-90 even though the Major had stowed his since he had simply been standing around the safe zone. That was what Harry and Ford had been doing, working their way down the floors making sure that they were one hundred percent safe for the Athosians to settle into with everything they had brought with them. The scientists had also been setting up their own rooms as well as the off duty security teams. Mainly the ones that had encountered the Wraith. Doctor Beckett was still busy setting up his new infirmary in the first large room that Harry and Ford had put a 'safe' sticker on.

"Lieutenant Ford is coming with me to rescue the captives." Major Sheppard announced though the look on his face made it clear that he wanted Harry to come too but Weir had countered him again. Harry rose his eyebrows up at Weir yet again.

"The Major has discovered that the ships in the upper hanger are capable of stealth." Weir sighed.

"They're invisible." Sheppard told them with a grin.

"And what exactly is your plan once you've flown into the middle of the Wraith's base, Sir?" Harry asked. Sheppard lost his grin.

"I'll have to work it out as I go along." Sheppard told him.

"If you're going to wing it then I should be going as well. Lieutenant Ford isn't trained in covert missions." Harry pointed out.

"I've had basic covert training." Ford retorted before adding the 'Sir' once he realised he was close to being rude.

"I don't mean any offence but myself and Major Sheppard are the ones with high level Covert operations experience. We're the two best choices." Harry turned to Weir. "You can't make me baby sit the Marines again. Not when I'm needed elsewhere."

Ford looked ready to argue the use of the term baby sit but after seeing the ease in which Harry organised a three team complete sweep of the city he had to agree that the Captain's skills were being wasted. "I understand that, Captain, but if something goes wrong I'll already have lost Colonel Sumner and Major Sheppard. I can't afford to lose you as well and as you have already pointed out, Lieutenant Ford doesn't have as much experience as you."

"That's just politics." Harry argued. "My going gives the mission a better chance of success and Lieutenant Ford knows it."

The Lieutenant nodded to show that he agreed though he was going by their different ranks and not by any practical knowledge. "Sorry, Captain, but I do partly agree with Doctor Weir. If this goes pear-shaped we need you here to lead the Marines."

If Harry wasn't being told that by a Major he would have growled. "For the record I am against this, Sir."

"I know you are." Sheppard sighed, he knew from Brazil that the Captain didn't like sitting on the sidelines while people could be hurt even at risk to his own life. He had put his own risk to the side and saved him and the General even though it got him shot down. Sheppard had to wonder what it was in Harry's past that made him that way.

"If this is all then I have Marines to baby sit." Harry waited to be dismissed by both Sheppard and Weir before he gave them all his best wishes and spun on his heel. He hoped that he found some hostile alien down in the city that he could shoot the hell out of and hated the fact that they hadn't found a sparring room or shooting range yet. Maybe one of the off duty Marines would offer to spar with him.

Harry spent most of the day searching through the corridors and rooms of the top half of the control tower, the largest structure in the city. Harry found several recreational rooms that he made sure that Grodin, who had been assigned to his teams, recorded accurately on his laptop as they made an extensive map of the area. They also found a room with beds that looked like an infirmary and Harry sent a message to Beckett to inform him of it and soon the man was setting up his equipment there. They found a canteen room with a large balcony along one side and tables and chairs attached to the floors as well as three floors of small rooms and bathrooms that were obviously evidence of accommodation.

It was set out like the SGC on earth though with a bit more style. The Stargate at the top with control room and meeting rooms and then laboratories and the infirmary below it followed by accommodation, recreational rooms and a canteen.

"Do you think you can securely lock it?" Harry asked McKay as he led him to a door that led to the lower half of the tower.

The man gave him a scathing look before opening the door and glancing at the stairs beyond. "This is the only way down to the lower floors?" McKay asked him.

"Yup." Harry told him. "We've got kitchens, accommodation, an infirmary, recreational rooms, labs and even storage up here."

"Looks like it's designed to be cut off from the rest of the city." McKay commented.

"That's what I thought, if you can securely lock that door then we don't need as many Marines to stand watch all the time." Harry told him, he'd been up for forty-eight hours now but hadn't wanted to rest until he was sure that everything was secure. Major Sheppard who was still on the rescue mission would have gotten some sleep but Harry knew that most of the Marines here had only had catnaps throughout the day and only when off duty.

"Looks like it was designed to. It shouldn't take me long." McKay assured him, for once not being sarcastic seeing that Harry was so tired and had been in a foul mood since Sheppard and Ford had gone off to rescue their people without him. Harry waited as McKay, Grodin and two other scientists that Harry hadn't learnt the names of yet went to work on the door. Harry leaned against a wall and glanced at the Sergeant and two Marines that were part of this team.

"Maybe you should go and rest up, Captain." Sergeant Markham suggested.

"Once we're secure, Sergeant." Harry pointed out.

"We're done here." McKay told him with a grin.

"Already?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. McKay was obviously offended and went to argue. "Ok, ok. I get it."

"Good."

"Doctor Weir?" Harry asked into his military radio. There was a brief second before Weir asked him what was happening. "We've locked the only door down to the lower levels so we're shut up nice and tight."

__

"Excellent, that'll make things easier." She told him. _"Get some rest, Captain."_

"Once we've swept the area once more." Harry told her before changing his tone. "Teams three and four start an area sweep from the bottom. Teams one and two start at the very top and work your way down." He turned to the Sergeant with a sigh. "Stay here. We'll convert these rooms into a barracks for four and have two on watch here at all times on twenty minute reports to the control room."

"But the door is locked." McKay pointed out.

"I'm sure you'll sleep easier knowing that it is being watched." Harry pointed out. McKay nodded. "Go find yourself a room and get moved in." Harry told the scientists who he knew had had no more than a few hours sleep.

"I'll send team two down with supplies to make a defensive position as soon as the sweep is done. Then you are off for twelve hours minimum." Harry told the Sergeant and his two men knowing that out of all of the Marines they had had the least sleep.

"Understood Sir." The Sergeant told him though it was obvious he wanted to say the same to Harry.

"I will, Sergeant don't worry." Harry gave the man a small grin before moving to meet up with team three who were heading slowly up from this floor checking every room and corridor.

Harry finally found his single bag of luggage in a storage room two floors below the Stargate and on the same floor as the recreational rooms. He'd already been assigned a room and it was obvious that Weir had had a hand in it's choice. While it wasn't as large as the other four in this area that would go to Doctor Weir, Colonel Sumner and Major Sheppard, it had a whole side wall that slid up into the ceiling onto a four metre wide balcony that would be perfect for drilling his own martial arts skills or just relaxing and listening to the wind. Obviously Doctor Weir had gathered from his earlier words that he didn't like being cooped up.

On the same corner of the tower floor would be the other three highest members of the party. Across the hall in the other four rooms would be Doctors Beckett and McKay as well as Lieutenant Ford and probably one of the other Marine Lieutenants. The rest of the floor was recreational rooms including a rather well padded sparring room.

His own room was a simple four metre square room with a single bed that Harry pushed up to one side and two small doors leading to a bathroom and closet. The rooms on this level were obviously meant for Ancients of importance. He dumped his gear into his closet and his leather jacket onto a chair that sat beside a desk before emptying the rest of his bag. Even though he was only allowed one personal item, his jacket, he had been permitted to bring anything small related to his own training.

He'd learned martial arts from Michael's father who had been a Master in several forms and had been given twin Sai for his sixteenth birthday and even once he had left for America he had trained as much as possible. The two short dagger like blades were extremely useful on missions since they killed just as easily as a gun but much quieter and could also be used as projectiles. His beloved Sai, with Michael's family insignia on them, were unfortunately locked away in a trunk in the storage room along with the rest of the expedition's weaponry. How the people at the SGC had gotten back to his flat to retrieve them on General O'Neill's orders in time to leave was beyond him. Probably with a helicopter.

To keep up his training he had two pairs of wooden rattan sticks of about the same length as his Sai but slightly wider to make them the same weight. He could keep them in his room with him and spar with them if he found somebody either willing to learn or well versed in martial arts. He'd have to talk Doctor Weir into letting him keep his Sai in his room. They were close combat weapons after all and he could always use one of the armoury boxes to keep them locked up.

There were three crystals on the inside of the door. The top opened the door while the bottom closed it and the middle locked it from the inside. With nobody on the inside to lock the door it could be opened by anyone from the outside using the two crystals on the outside wall but as long as Harry could lock the door with him inside then he was happy.

After locking the door and opening the windows with a similar set of crystals he stripped down to his boxers and after putting his military radio on standby so it wouldn't waste power he slipped onto the bed regardless of the fact that there were no sheets or bedding and fell asleep proving just how tired he was since he knew that with a rescue operation taking place he shouldn't have such an easy time falling into a slumber.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Atlantis - Harry's room

Harry awoke with a jolt from his memory of watching Michael being shot by the rebel troops. He had always had trouble with his nightmares though they didn't make him cry out anymore, they just made him toss and turn in his sleep. They were as normal as dreams to him now. He glared around feebly at the room trying to find out what had awoken him so rudely before a set of knocks alerted him to the fact that somebody was at the door.

"What!?" Harry yelled out as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Captain Potter, it's Sergeant Markham!" Harry groaned and cast an eye at his watch. Harry looked down at his state of undress and quickly pulled on some trousers before unlocking the door and leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his bare chest.

"I've had six hours sleep, Sergeant. What is it?" Harry asked.

"Doctor Weir thought you'd like to know that Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford have returned and are in the infirmary." Harry put his weight back on his own feet at the words before spinning and grabbing a change of clothes. "She told me to tell you that Major Sheppard will be sleeping through most of the day and that you are in charge of the Marines."

Harry glanced up at him. "Colonel Sumner?"

The Marine flinched slightly. "He didn't make it, Sir."

"I really am sorry, Sergeant. I know how much the Colonel was respected by you all." Harry sighed and walked towards the slightly younger man. Harry had seen entire platoons come to a stand still after a good leader had been wounded or killed. "Tell all of the men that they can always come speak to me if they need to."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." The Sergeant nodded.

"Thank you, Sergeant." Harry dismissed the man before heading in to take a shower glad that the Ancients had been humanoid and the bathroom was almost identical to the ones on Earth if not a bit high tech. Now that he was up there was no chance that he could get back to sleep. He'd take a shower, change and then go check on all of the military men in Atlantis. Make sure that they were all set up for the duration.

In fact he spent the day talking to each individual Marine, learning their names quite effectively. He also checked that the outpost on the lowest floor was well set up and that a temporary barracks was in place both there and nearer to the Gateroom and then finally checked the armoury to make sure that everything was put away correctly which he had had no doubt that it would have been since the Marines he had with him were all very good at their jobs.

A single box was labelled 'Cpt Potter - personal' and Harry made sure that it was kept separate so that he could talk to Doctor Weir about it later. He was walking through the Athosians' designated accommodation when a small boy ran out and nearly bowled him over.

"Jinto, wasn't it?" Harry asked as he steadied the fourteen year old.

"Yes, Mr…" Jinto frowned.

"Just Captain or Potter will be fine." Harry told him. "You shouldn't run around the corridors so blindly. We don't know enough about this place and you might get yourself hurt."

"He won't, I promise you." An older voice spoke up from behind him and Harry turned to face an older Athosian that hadn't been here before the rescue operation. He was wearing a bandage identical to the Earth ones and Harry assumed he had hurt his leg in the attack. "My name is Halling. I am Jinto's father."

"It's a pleasure, Halling. My name is Potter." Harry told him and shook his offered hand.

"Is that a family name or a given one?" Halling frowned slightly in confusion.

"It is my family name, my given name is Harry but all of our team call me Potter." Harry shrugged. "I suppose you could call me whichever."

"Harry then." Harry shrugged again with a smile.

"Please, don't let me get in your way." Harry told him before stepping to the side. Jinto ran passed him and clutched at Halling's arm and offered Harry a weak smile.

Harry spent the rest of the light hours memorising every room and corridor of the tower that they had claimed as a base and making plans with the NCOs for duty rosters to guard the Gateroom, the doorway down to the city and a posted guard at the Armoury as long as the Athosians were around.

It was evening before Harry got a call on his radio requesting his presence in the canteen. Harry sighed, he'd heard that Weir had ordered a gathering of all members of the expedition and the Athosians so that they could get to know each other and celebrate their friendship but Harry had had no intention of turning up. Partly because he didn't like gatherings like this and partly because there were Marines on duty and he didn't feel right leaving them to go to a party after they had recently lost their Commanding Officer.

He wandered through the crowd until he spotted Doctor Weir talking to a few Athosians as well as McKay and Beckett. He headed over to them.

"Doctors." He nodded to the three before nodding at the Athosians.

"Please, I've already told John to call me Elizabeth." Weir told him. Harry sighed and assented for the time being not wanting to add to the tense air. "I haven't seen you all day."

"I was making sure of our position and finalising the armoury and duty roster for the Marines." Harry lost any hint of a smile. "I'm afraid it will take time for them to accept Major Sheppard as their commanding officer."

"Will they eventually?" Weir asked him.

"Probably. Lieutenant Ford's clear liking of the Major will help things along though." Harry assured her.

"But they are happy taking orders from you?" Weir asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know about happy but they will." Harry chatted inanely with Weir, Beckett and McKay for a while as well as with a few Athosians that came over to chat to Weir but in the end he excused himself and headed over to where he could see Major Sheppard talking to Lieutenant Ford only realising that Weir followed him when she touched him on the arm and handed him a metal beaker of liquid.

"Major, Lieutenant." She spoke up making the two turn to see them. "I thought the occasion merited opening this. Compliments of General O'Neill." She handed them a cup each and held onto the fourth herself.

Harry tilted it to see it in the light but swallowed a gulp with the others anyway. "Congratulations on your rescue, Major, Lieutenant." Harry told him and nodded at both him and Ford to show that he meant it.

"You did good, John." Weir admitted with a smile.

"I don't know about that." Sheppard sighed.

"There was no way you could have saved Colonel Sumner." Weir told him. Harry glanced at Sheppard knowing that there was something else in that story that he hadn't shared with anyone else in the same way that Harry hadn't shared everything on mission reports.

"I have to live with it." Sheppard told them all and Harry realised that Sheppard had fired the killing shot. "I'm beginning to think you're right. I have made things much worse. I haven't made us many more friends out there."

"No?" Weir raised an eyebrow. "Look around you."

Harry glanced at the assembled Athosians with a small grin. An Athosian woman spoke up from Harry's side and he jumped around slightly in shock. "I agree, Major Sheppard." She pulled Sheppard towards her and Harry thought they were going to kiss for a moment before she touched their foreheads together like Harry had seen the Athosians do a few times over the course of the day. Ford was laughing. "You have earned both my friendship and that of my people. With our help you will make many more friends."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the Major's shocked face and everyone looked at him. "Sorry, Teyla." Weir spoke up. "This is Captain Harry Potter. Harry this is Teyla Imagon."

"It's a pleasure." Harry nodded in greeting and she smiled back at him. Harry turned to Weir. "I wanted to ask for your permission to move my personal weapons to my own rooms."

"Personal weaponry?" Sheppard frowned.

"Sai." Harry told him.

"What are they?" Sheppard asked.

"Martial Arts weapons." Harry told him before glancing back at Weir. "They won't do me any good if I have to sign them out every time I want to practice."

"Ok Harry, but make sure they stay locked up when you are not using them." Weir told him.

"Of course." Harry turned to move away but Teyla stalled him.

"I do not understand what these Sai are." She told him.

"They are short daggers used in martial arts…close combat fighting." Harry corrected himself to explain to her more clearly.

"Are you well versed in martial arts?" She asked him with a strange glint in her eyes.

"By Earth standards I suppose I am." Harry told her.

"I would be honoured to practice with you at some point. I have not had a challenging partner in some time and even though Major Sheppard has expressed a wish to learn I do not believe he will present a challenge." Harry almost laughed at Sheppard's face.

"I would appreciate that. Perhaps we can meet in the training room on the next floor up at six tomorrow morning."

"Very well." Teyla nodded.

Harry turned back to the group to say goodnight before taking his leave. "Lieutenant Ford, Major Sheppard, Doctor Weir. I'll see you all in the morning."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Weir watched with Sheppard and Ford as the Captain walked away. "Are most as distant as Captain Potter on your world?" Teyla asked suddenly and they all looked at her. Ford excused himself not wanting to get involved.

"He has a bad history." Weir told her.

"What could have happened?" Teyla asked. She had picked up the tenseness in his appearance whenever he was introduced to somebody and the way he had refused to call Sheppard or Weir by their first names regardless of Weir's use of his own.

"That's part of the problem, neither of us know. Part of his record is hidden from us. Kept secret." Weir told her. Teyla nodded in understanding before she too split off to tend to the other Athosians.

"I know a little." Sheppard spoke up quietly. Weir glanced at her. "Did you read what happened in Brazil?"

"His last Black Ops mission?" Weir asked. "Where you and he went against orders to report your movements and he got himself captured to find out who the spy in the pentagon was. I was told he received a medal for his actions but when I talked to him earlier he snapped at me and told me the mission was a complete failure."

Sheppard sighed. "I watched him get captured because it was part of the plan and then I called for support from the local response unit. We couldn't get in when a huge storm tore through the rainforest. We saw three tornados completely obliterating the rebel base." Sheppard turned to stare out at the water. "We traced our original route through the forest the next morning in the hopes of his escape and we found him carrying a British pilot's body through the jungle even with a bullet wound in his leg and evidence of heavy torture."

"But why would that cause such a cold mannerism?" Weir asked. If anything it showed extremely high qualities.

"We'd heard rumours that a British Pilot was being held ransom and part of Harry's mission was to rescue him. In the end the pilot was shot as part of Harry's torture." Sheppard sighed. "The pilot's name was Michael Greyley. He and Captain Potter were friends ever since they were in a British Military academy together and he was very close to Greyley's family."

"I see." Weir saw a lot more than Sheppard realised, she put together the fact that Greyley's death and Harry's subsequent devastation had created the storm and she realised why her and Major Sheppard's words had gotten such a cold reaction. He thought that they didn't trust his abilities in a fight because to Sheppard he had failed and to her he couldn't control his abilities in a fire fight.

"He changed drastically from as cheerful as a Black Ops soldier can get before his capture to a very cold person. According to General O'Neill it's all over his file." Sheppard sighed.

"We'll just have to befriend him then." Weir told him. "Even if he doesn't want friends. We're out here on our own and we can't afford anybody to fall through the cracks."

Sheppard nodded briskly and made to leave in the hopes of catching the Captain up. Weir grabbed his arm. "Have you given any thought to your team yet?"

"My team?" Sheppard frowned.

"You are the ranking officer now." Weir pointed out.

"I'll give it some thought." Sheppard nodded before giving her a grin and downing the rest of his champagne.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	5. Coming to terms

Cast Between Worlds

Chapter 5; Coming to terms

****

Atlantis

Harry was half way back to his rooms when he heard running feet behind him. He half turned to see who it was but only stopped walking when he noticed that it was Major Sheppard.

"Major?" Harry nodded slightly. "Was there something you needed?"

"Captain, I think we got off on the wrong foot." Sheppard told him.

"I don't know what you mean." Harry answered evasively.

"Don't give me that." Sheppard almost snapped but softened his voice when a duty patrol of two marines walked passed them. "Can we go somewhere a little more private?"

"Of course, Sir." Harry nodded making it clear he was accepting an order. "There is a large balcony outside my room, I was planning on visiting it now anyway."

"You have a balcony?" Sheppard frowned. "How come I don't have one?"

Harry just shrugged before waving his hand in front of the door lock to his room and walking inside. He took off his jacket and threw it onto the bed before heading to the balcony doors and raising them up into the ceiling. He walked out into the night air. They could just about hear the gathering on the floor below them but around the other side of the tower.

"I haven't had a chance to properly look at the city yet." Sheppard whistled under his breath. "It's huge."

"Yes Sir, it's going to take a long time to explore it fully. I plan on using all the teams tomorrow to clear this tower down to the ground level and then we can move at a slower pace into the rest of the city." Harry told him.

"I'll be ready to help tomorrow. As will Lieutenant Ford." Sheppard told him. "He's a good kid. Younger than most though."

"He's only two months younger than me Sir." Harry told him with a sideways look and a smirk.

"What!?" Sheppard almost yelped. "You can't be that young?"

"I'm not young." Harry countered. "People just like to put me in dangerous situations."

Harry knew that the Major was only twenty-eight and knew what he was talking about. Sheppard paused and glanced over the edge at the thirty floor drop. "I'm quite looking forward to exploring this place."

"Are you sure you want that job, Major?" Harry asked. "It's going to be long and boring for anybody but the scientists."

"It'll be a few days before we attempt any off-world missions. We need to establish ourselves here first." Sheppard told him.

"I'll talk to the Marines tomorrow and sort out which ones are best suited for off-world recon and which would be better to keep in reserve in case people get stuck somewhere." Harry told him.

"Make sure you don't include yourself in any of those teams. I've already got plans for you." Sheppard told him. Harry frowned at him.

"With all due respect, Sir. You can't leave me off the teams, I was brought here because I can fight." Harry told him. "You can't expect me to baby sit the Marines. That should be left to Sergeant Bates as the senior NCO."

"Would you let me speak for a second?" Sheppard interrupted him before he could continue his argument. "I don't want you on any of the other teams since you're best on my own."

Harry opened his mouth in shock before snapping it closed for a moment. "You don't have much respect for senior officers do you?" Sheppard asked him with a small grin.

"I do, Sir, if they deserve it, I just don't show it." Harry told him seriously. "I have a strange background and then I've spent most of my career in the jungles or in top secret programs like the Viper Squadron, I've always been given a lot of leeway."

"I don't mind you having leeway but we have to establish a proper chain of command. Without Colonel Sumner here it's up to me to be the senior military officer. I'm going to need your help to manage that." Sheppard told him. Harry nodded his agreement so Sheppard continued the question. "And I'm going to need your friendship. Doctor Weir too."

Harry tensed before turning slowly to look out at the ocean. He sighed and shut his eyes reaching out into the distance, he opened his eyes a few seconds later and turned back to Sheppard after he had calmed himself. "I can try, Sir. That's all I can promise you."

"I'll take it." Sheppard nodded. "It's not going to be just me and Weir running this place. You are too."

Harry looked to him. "Teyla said you plan on learning martial arts?"

"That's what I plan, yes. It could come in handy." Sheppard told him.

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow morning at our sparring match then, Sir."

"Looking forward to it." Sheppard nodded at him before turning and backing out of the room. Harry sighed and returned his gaze to the ocean wondering if it was worth the risk to make friends with them all. In the end it came down to survival. They were stuck there at least for the time being, if he didn't get to know them all then he might as well just jump off of the balcony right now. They'd have to know they could rely on him and he had to know that they would help him out if he got into trouble.

Harry went to bed that night with a small smile on his lips.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

The next day

Harry stood silently in the centre of the gym. The floor had been designed to be hard yet slightly more yielding and springy than the normal corridors and Harry had already warmed up since he had been awake for an hour already. He always had way too much energy to sleep for long, a side affect of having storms channel themselves through his body. He'd gotten his Sai from the Armoury and after returning the box which also contained a P-90, a pistol and some spare clips to his room he had come to the gym to practice with them.

Now though he was simply waiting, letting the air from the life support system spin around him as he waited for Teyla and Major Sheppard to arrive. He didn't have to wait long though as the door slid open and not only Teyla and Sheppard walked in but Lieutenant Ford, Sergeant Bates and Doctor Weir as well.

"I didn't realise we were having a party, Sir." Harry grinned at him wickedly.

"We're interested to see this, Captain." Doctor Weir told him.

Harry eyed Ford and Bates and knew that they were there to size up his own fighting abilities as well as Teyla's. "I don't have a problem with it." He told her before inverting the Sai still in his hands and slipping them into the pouches strapped to his upper legs. He was wearing his uniform for the most part though he didn't have the jacket on and was wearing a sleeveless black Helly Hanson leaving his arms bare. His feet also were bare but he could fight just as well with boots on as without.

"Perhaps you should use something other than actual knives." Sheppard suggested.

Harry grinned slightly before backing off of the mat to allow Teyla to warm herself up as he went to his bag against the wall and pulled out the two pairs of rattan sticks that he had brought with him. "That was the plan, Major." Harry smirked. "I had no intention of harming our knew allies."

"Harming me?" Teyla asked him with a small smirk before looking at Sheppard and Weir taking up Harry's subtle challenge. "I will not harm him permanently I promise."

Harry didn't take it as an insult and instead of glaring at her his eyes lit up and he grinned happily. "Finally." He muttered before passing her one of the pairs. "Do you want longer to prepare?"

"It will not be necessary." Teyla told him.

"Just remember that this is a sparring match, not a proper fight." Sheppard told them. "Both of you." He warned them but was ignored as Teyla and Harry assessed each other. "Captain, do you understand me?"

Harry looked at him and nodded. "I know, Sir. Don't worry, I can handle myself." Harry knew that Sheppard was concerned that he was being overly arrogant and that Teyla was his superior but Harry truthfully didn't know whether he was or not. That was what he was most looking forward to.

"Ford?" Harry asked and the Lieutenant walked over to him. Harry slipped the Sai from the pouches and handed them to him. "Look after them for me."

"Yes, Sir!" Ford nodded before stepping back. Harry turned to look at Teyla before bowing. Teyla watched as he straighten having obviously not used the same greeting in her own training. She nodded her head before instantly going into a defensive stance. Harry didn't fall into a stance but simply inverted one of the rattan sticks so it lay against one side of his arm. She eyed the movement and frowned before leaping forwards to strike at him.

Harry saw the two blows coming simultaneously and inverted his left stick to match the right. He stepped into her attack and brought up his arms one after the other so that her attacks landed on his arms protected by the sticks. He shoved outwards and she couldn't hold up the attack when his whole weight was behind it and he followed her retreat by shifting his grip so that the sticks were back to normal before striking low at her hip and then at her leading leg, left behind as she retreated. She blocked both, one with her stick and the other with her foot.

Harry danced around her next strike and they began throwing attacks against each other for what seemed to be ten minutes, their movements a blur to their audience who had no idea how each of them predicted the others next move. Harry was having the time of his life as he traded blows and soon their strikes turned into proper attacks. It ended when Teyla took a strike at the side of Harry's head but rather than block it Harry dodged it ever so slightly before grabbing her wrist and using her weight to throw her around him and to the ground. She lashed out with her other stick and Harry flipped himself backwards onto his hands and then kicked his feet over his head sending the stick from her hands as he went.

He righted himself facing her as she rolled up off of the ground and instead of anger there was pleasure on her face. "It has been a long time before somebody bettered me in a fair fight."

"I would not say I bettered you." Harry countered. "There is much I can learn from you."

"And much I could learn from you in return." Teyla bowed her head to him just as Weir began clapping.

"That was incredible." She told them both. Harry nodded at her before turning to bow to Teyla.

"Perhaps once the city is explored fully we can spar in the open." Harry told her. "I am a much better fighter outside than in."

She took his strange words in stride and nodded her agreement. Sheppard handed Harry the stick he had kicked out of his hands, presumably it had flown towards him. "Don't forget you are teaching me as well."

Harry shared a look with Teyla before turning back to Sheppard. "We can both teach you, Sir."

"Indeed Major Sheppard." She nodded. "It would be the best way for us to learn off of each other as well."

"But not today I think." Weir spoke up. "Some of us have work to do."

"Yes, Ma'am." Harry nodded.

"You're planning on exploring the city if I am not mistaken?" Weir asked both him and Sheppard.

"This tower yes." Sheppard nodded.

"I want a scientist with each of your teams in case you run into something." She told them both.

"Of course." Harry nodded. "Sergeant Bates, can you get every Marine down to the shut off door?"

"What about sentry detail?" Bates asked.

"A six man team for the Gate room and two more for the armoury will do." Harry told him.

"Armoury?" Weir asked.

"Standard procedure, Ma'am." Bates told her. "Especially with guests."

"I assure you, no Athosian will steal any of your weapons." Teyla countered.

Bates was about to argue but Harry's limited diplomatic skills kicked in. "We are more worried about any of the children finding their way in there and hurting themselves on something. It is concern for their health over anything else, I assure you." Teyla nodded to him and Weir caught his eye with an impressed look on her face.

"Very well then. Have a good day and keep me apprised." Weir nodded.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Briefing Room

Harry and Sheppard stood in the control room. They had both spent the day with every Marine, that hadn't had the night shift, sweeping every room of the tower to find every entrance and exit. Each group of three Marines had a scientist with them to give their expertise to anything they found. Rooms and their predicted uses were catalogued and finds were also entered into the database for future study. The other scientists were busy stowing gear and properly setting up their labs and spreading out their supplies. Harry had no doubt that by the end of the day they'd have all the amenities in the residential areas that they needed.

The room was a simple one, ten walls set in a decagon with a large triangular shaped table with cut off corners to give six sides. Major Sheppard was talking about their sweeps of the tower before he turned to Harry to describe their security.

"I figure we should keep up minimal sweeps inside the tower but the tower's obviously designed to be easily defended." Harry waved at the screen which displayed a top down view of the tower pulled from the Ancient database. "We can keep the tower secure with only a few marines posted on the ground floor. We've already begun setting up a temporary guard station there so we have a fall back when we explore the outer city."

"My people can help." Teyla joined in.

"Thank you Teyla." Weir smiled at her. "But for the meantime we'll find other ways that the Athosians can contribute."

"You do not trust us?" Teyla frowned.

"It's no that," Sheppard jumped in, "we need to train your people in our weapons and tactics."

"You invited me to be a member of your team." Teyla pointed out.

"And we value your knowledge and expertise." Sheppard placated her.

"As we value all the Athosians." Weir assured her before changing the subject. "For now, there should be more than enough living space for everyone within the designated area."

"We have always lived in the shadow of the Wraith, but my people have never been in a place such as this. They are afraid. Some believe the ghost of the ancestors remain." Teyla told them.

"I doubt there is anything like that here, but we're going to need more time to check the entire city for…" Harry frowned as he trailed off trying to find words.

"For what?" Weir asked him.

"Anything dangerous." Harry shrugged.

"We're very cautious intergalactic explorers." Sheppard joined in with a smirk at Harry who just rolled his eyes and tightened the strap on his P-90 that he was still wearing.

"And we don't want anyone else getting hurt the way Halling did." Weir pointed out referring to the Athosian man's accident with a closing door that had broken his leg. "I mean, everyone needs to understand they are not to touch anything unfamiliar unless it's been cleared first."

"That's very important. I mean, you never know. Even a tiny little innocuous thing can kill you. Dead man talking." McKay told them all in a mutter and Harry almost laughed though he took pity on the man. He'd been the first guinea pig for Doctor Beckett's ATA implantation program and had tested himself with an Ancient personal shield which was now seemingly lodged on him preventing anything from touching him, including food and water.

Harry turned to Weir. "The Marines are stood down for the night except for Gate watch and sentry duties, we'll start exploring the East pier tomorrow morning."

"Good." Weir nodded.

The meeting broke up and Harry found Weir catching up to him as he headed down to the residential area, he planned to check on the Armoury guards and then visit the lower areas to talk to the Marines on duty there. "How are the men coping?" Weir asked him.

"As well as can be expected, Ma'am." Harry told her seriously. "They are not used to having two Air Force Officers in command of them but they recognise that we are both Black Ops and can hold our own."

"So they were worried that you were simply pilots?" Weir asked.

"Partly, ma'am." Harry nodded. "Sheppard proved himself with his rescue and I have partly proven myself in these sweeps but…" Harry tailed off before he could speak ill of a senior officer.

"But what, Captain?" Weir paused in her stride and Harry realised that he was in fact following her route to the infirmary.

"The only problem is Colonel Sumner." Harry sighed. "I don't mean to speak ill of a good man but he didn't hide his opinions about myself and Major Sheppard from his men and they trusted him."

"I see."

"Sorry, ma'am." Harry winced. "They'll accept us eventually. At the moment though they have Lieutenant Ford to look to regardless of his lack of experience. They trust him and he trusts us."

"Good." Weir began walking again and looked at him over her shoulder. "How are you coping, Captain?"

The hidden question was obvious and Harry thought about his answer for a few seconds. "Believe it or not, ma'am, but I have seen stranger things than this city and witnessed deeds that rival the Wraith. Not by much though, although the Wraith only do this for survival." Harry looked at her with a small smile though she was clearly shocked by his words. "I have a strange past, ma'am, and I have to keep it hidden but I promise it wont effect my performance."

"I have no doubt it wont." Weir nodded. "General O'Neill promised as much and advised I didn't push it."

"I'm sure you could cope with it, ma'am, but you really wouldn't want to know it." Harry grinned at her. "I appreciate your concern over my mental health but I assure you that the only reason I lost control of that storm in Brazil was because I was already creating it. My emotions only effect the weather when I am already manipulating it."

"So your emotions do play a part?" Weir asked out of interest rather than suspicion.

"I can build up a storm but if I build it too strong because of emotions I lose control of it and it can even start to effect me." Harry shrugged just as they turned into the infirmary. "Normally I don't need to push my own limits."

She nodded at him before greeting Doctor Beckett by his first name. He turned to her and smiled tiredly. "Doctor Weir, Captain Potter."

"So Grodin's got a team going through the Ancient research material that accompanied the shield device, but McKay's been through it and he didn't find anything helpful. And he is the smartest guy here." Weir summarised and ignored Harry's quiet snort at the last words. He had to hand it to McKay though, he was smart, he'd helped design the computer systems for the Vipers that allowed them to hack in and uplink to any computer system on Earth.

"So he likes to tell us." Beckett groaned. "Listen, I feel terrible. It's possible this was the result of artificially imposing a gene."

"Well I have another theory." Weir shook her head and Harry sat himself on one of the empty beds. "We know that there is a mental component to using Ancient Technology."

"You don't have to remind me. I experienced it first hand with that drone weapon back on Earth." Beckett mumbled forgetting who was listening to him.

"Tell me about it." Harry muttered making Beckett look up at him with a shocked look. Harry laughed. "At least he won't crash at two hundred knots."

"Very funny." Weir came to the doctor's rescue and Harry just gave them both a smirk. "So don't you think it stands to reason that McKay should be able to shut this thing off with his mind?"

"Are you suggesting he doesn't want to shut it off?" Beckett asked.

"We may be settling in here, but this place, it's still pretty intimidating." Weir pointed out logically. "I mean, a giant abandoned city, full of things way beyond our level of understanding; impending threat of attack from the Wraith." She trailed off.

"The lower levels can be rather intimidating." Harry added with a smirk. "Well for scientists at least."

"So I'm not saying it's conscious." Weir concluded ignoring Harry's comment. "It's perhaps subconscious."

"I don't think he wants to die of dehydration." Beckett pointed out.

"No, neither do I, but he's not there yet." Weir reminded him.

"You think that when the time comes it'll just switch itself off?" Beckett asked.

"Why not?" Harry joined in feeling left out of the science talk, nobody believed that military men were smart after all. "The Ancient's built safeguards into everything, even the city had safeguards so it would rise to the surface. Why would the Ancient's build a personal shield that simply killed you slowly?"

"I hope you're right." Beckett pointed out. "For Rodney's sake."

Harry grinned before jumping off of the bed. Just as he did though his ear piece came to life. _"Captain?" _Grodin asked on the military radio. Harry had given up carrying the scientist one too since they normally had a scientist with them when they explored and the only things that were sent on the frequency were useless to him. _"Are you with, Doctor Weir?"_

Harry tapped the ear piece to make a connection as he glanced at Weir who wasn't wearing her own radio. He rolled his eyes at her. "Doctor Weir is with me, yes. What's the matter?"

__

"Nothing too important but we need you and her up in the control as soon as possible to sort out something." He obviously didn't want to say what that thing was over the radio where all of the Marines and any scientist with their radio frequency could hear them.

"Roger." Harry told him. "We're on our way."

"What is it?" Weir asked him.

"We're wanted in the control room." Harry told her.

"We'll talk to you later Carson." Weir smiled at the doctor before heading out.

As soon as they were in the hallway Harry turned to her and grinned. "You know I could always blast the shield off of him."

"What!?" She almost yelped.

"McKay." Harry told her slowly. "It must have some sort of lifespan power wise and I figure that eventually it will reduce itself to the point that it dies."

"So you think that putting him in the middle of a storm would do that?" She raised an eyebrow at him dubiously.

"Why wouldn't it?" Harry asked. "Millions of Watts of electrical energy would surely short a personal shield regardless of the fact that the Ancients built it."

"And not kill him?" Weir questioned him.

"Well, not as long as the shield was working." Harry admitted.

"And after that?"

"As long as I pulled the storm away before it hit him again." Harry told her.

"I think we'll leave that as a last resort." Weir told him sternly.

"You just want to spoil my fun."

"Is there a term for storm lovers like there is with Pyromaniacs?" She asked him.

"I don't think so." Harry told her with a straight face. "Storms are just cool. Flying is better though."

"How are you doing cooped up in the city?" Weir asked remembering his attitude when they were underwater.

"Ok for now though the Balcony helps prevent me from feeling closed in. It's a personal preference not a necessity." Harry assured her. "It'll be another month or two before I need to create a storm again."

"Need?" She frowned.

"Oh, sorry, we didn't mention that did we?" Harry almost blushed. "If I don't create a storm once in a while then my ability starts to do it without my permission and even if I can control it I'm sure you don't want it to happen right over the city without warning."

"I'll keep that in mind." Weir deadpanned. Harry just grinned at her in amusement.

They set up command codes to the human aspects of the technology that ran the Atlantis base and went through the aspects of the self-destruct. After that Harry went off on his own for the evening to watch over the Marines standing sentry in the lower sections though he did change out of his weaponry and uniform jacket in favour of his leather jacket figuring that it would make the point that he wasn't on duty and wanted a quiet night though as far as he was concerned he was always on duty just like when he was in the jungles.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

That night

Harry was woken that evening by a knocking on his door, he woke instantly at the impatient sound and stumbled out of bed to the door, grabbing one of the pouches with his Sai in them on the way. He waved his hand over the lock and the door opened to reveal Sheppard. Harry raised his eyebrows up at the man's kitted out look and determined expression.

Sheppard's eyes widened slightly at Harry's state of undress since he was only wearing jogging bottoms which hung low on his hips. The man wasn't highly trained for nothing though and he brought his eyes back up to Harry's waiting face. "Jinto's missing. Full sweep, teams of two. I'll wake Ford, you get the others."

"Yes, Sir." Harry spun on his heal to change and get his equipment. He and Sheppard both kept P-90s locked in their rooms as of that morning since they wouldn't have time to run to the armoury every time a problem came up. Harry changed in seconds and grabbed his radio and his P-90 as he strapped his Sai to his upper legs. He tapped his earpiece and it came to life.

"This is Captain Potter. All teams report for duty." Harry snapped through the microphone.

__

"This is Sergeant Bates, we're gearing up. What's the problem Sir?" Bates, their new head of security asked him.

"We've got a missing child. Teams of two, systematic search. Report any Athosian outside of the residential area." Harry ordered.

__

"Understood Sir."

Harry met up with Sheppard, Teyla and Halling just outside of his rooms. "The Marines are starting a sweep. They'll report any Athosian boy they see since they won't recognise Jinto."

"He's not in any of the living quarters." Teyla told them.

"Can I search with you?" Halling asked Sheppard who simply eyed his cast warily.

"Are you going to be ok with that leg?" Sheppard asked.

"He's my son." Harry eyed the man as he said it and saw the determination there. If Sheppard didn't agreed then the man would simply search on his own. Sheppard evidently saw the look too and agreed.

"Captain, stay with Teyla and check that there isn't any others missing and then keep an eye on the living quarters in case Jinto comes back on his own." Sheppard ordered. "Keep in contact."

"Yes Sir." Harry nodded, he was going to suggest that they kept somebody back in case the boy returned. Harry turned and walked away. A search like this seemed rather extreme for just one boy but everybody knew that in a city as advanced as this one the longer he was lost the more chance he had to damage something dangerous. Also there was the obvious fact that boys who grew up in the forest didn't get lost easily so there must be something else to stop him retracing his steps.

Teyla caught up to him and they walked together to the living quarters as Harry listened to his radio. Weir reported to him to tell him that every scientist in the expedition had reported in and were helping to sweep the residential area. Harry checked with Lieutenant Ford who told him that all of the military men were accounted for and that nothing suspicious had been seen.

"Teyla, is everyone else accounted for?" Harry asked her as she started talking to a few of the older Athosians.

"Yes, though they wish to help." Teyla told him.

"It would only complicate matters." Harry told her before turning to the disgruntled men and women. "My men do not know what Jinto looks like so they are searching for any Athosian. Any of you wandering the halls would simply confuse matters and until you are trained in our radio and tactics you wouldn't be able to report in. Please excuse me."

"Of course, we understand." Teyla assured him hearing the sincerity in his voice. He'd have to sort out with Bates about training them all and giving them tasks to do to placate them. Any extra people to guard the corridors would be greatly welcomed by the Marines especially when they started sending people through the gate.

Harry pressed his ear piece and spoke into the tiny black microphone on his cheek. "Major Sheppard, Doctor Weir, all personnel are fully accounted for whether they are Athosian or our own expedition. It's just Jinto missing."

Harry had just received a thank you when a girl came running around the corner with her mother trailing behind her. "Marta?" Teyla stepped forwards, "What is the matter?"

"I saw a shadow!" She whispered in fright. Harry frowned just as the lights flickered. He was distracted for a moment as Weir began trying to talk to Jinto over the Citywide intercom but her words were cut off when everything went dark.

__

"Control Room, this is Sheppard. The lights just went out." Sheppard's voice told them all.

__

"We're experiencing some technical difficulties." Weir responded but Harry simply frowned. The air was buzzing like it did before a storm but it was so faint he could barely sense it.

"Captain Potter!" Teyla snapped at him.

"Sorry, Teyla, what is it?" Harry placated as he shook the feeling away.

"Marta has seen a Shadow." She told him. "The Wraith project them."

Harry rounded on the girl. "Are you sure that's what you saw?" She nodded at him and clutched at her mother's arm. "Teyla, what do you think?"

"I have not sensed anything." Harry was aware that she had the strange ability to sense their presence but it was no stranger than his own ability.

"But we should still be careful." Harry concluded before turning on his microphone again. "All personnel, all personnel, this is Captain Potter. Be advised, possible Wraith presence within the city. I repeat possible Wraith presence in close proximity."

"Are you sure?" Weir asked him.

"One of the Athosians thinks she saw a Shadow." Harry countered. "That's good enough to be concerned about."

__

"All right, all teams, fall back to the Gateroom until further instruction." Sheppard ordered.

Harry rounded on Teyla. "Stay with them and don't let any of them get separated. We'll find Jinto but we need to set up a proper perimeter."

"Will they be safe here?" Teyla asked him as she moved close into his ear so the others didn't hear him.

"If there is a Wraith then we should be worried but she might have seen something else." Harry told her. "Either way I'll send men to secure the area immediately."

Harry was stopped a second later before he could leave the room when two more children ran into the room claiming to have seen Shadows. Whatever it was it was near the residential area. Harry groaned before thumbing his radio. "Team two report to living quarters, set up a perimeter." Harry ordered before he jogged to the control room to meet up with Sheppard. All the way that nagging feeling of charged air faded but it was still very much present.

He found Weir and Sheppard in the control room along with the normal scientists and McKay. "We've secured the control room and living quarters and started more methodical sweeps." Sheppard was telling Weir before seeing him. "Report?"

"Two more Athosians have seen this Shadow but Teyla can't sense anything." Harry told both Sheppard and Weir. "She sounded sure of herself but three reports of Shadows is too much to ignore."

"You know I don't get that. That would mean that there was Wraith here." Sheppard told him.

"And close to the living quarters too." Harry put in.

"You don't think so?" Weir asked Sheppard.

"I don't think they want to scare us. I mean, when they decide to come, they are going to start blowing the crap out of this place with their ships." Sheppard put in.

"So what, the Athosians are just seeing things?" Weir asked.

"Well like Teyla said, it is a scary place for them." Sheppard pointed out. Harry concentrated and could still feel that charged energy but it wasn't nearly as bad as down stairs.

"Not just for them." McKay spoke up.

Teyla suddenly walked into the room with Halling and looked to Weir. "Halling would like to speak to his son."

"Of course." Weir spoke up. McKay made his way to the control console and hit a button. Harry disregarded his concentration on what Halling send and concentrated solely on that strange feeling. It was growing stronger, reaching out around him in the air. Filling the air with charged particles just like he did but this was slow and distant. Just as he was about to put his finger on it he felt an up welling of the power and he grabbed tightly onto Weir's arm to get her attention. She span in shock and gasped at his black eyes as he tapped into his powers. Everyone looked at him to find out why Weir had gasped but just then the lights went dark and none of them saw his eyes.

A body hit the floor and Harry came out of his daze as the charge faded away as if it was retreating. Harry looked at Weir and let her arm go before looking at McKay now on the floor with the others checking him over.

"He's got a pulse." Grodin told Weir who was momentarily distracted from Harry in favour of checking the health of one of her own team.

"Maybe he fainted." Sheppard muttered.

"I need to talk to you, Doctor Weir." Harry spun on his heel and headed for her office. She followed him instantly. The power came back up as soon as she stepped into the room and the door flipped closed, sealing them off.

"What is it, Captain?"

"It's not a Wraith." Harry told her. "I can sense it, it's like me."

"What do you mean?" Weir frowned.

"I don't know. Both times we've lost power I've sensed a charge build up in the air. Less the first time but much more powerful that time." Harry told her. "It's exactly like when I charge the air to prepare a storm."

"But it isn't you doing it?" Weir asked. "I mean, its not a reaction to something out there?"

"No, ma'am. I didn't access my powers the first time, I only did it that time to try to counter it. Unsuccessfully." Harry assured her. "I don't know what it is but it's way more powerful than I am."

Her brow furrowed in confusion before she nodded. "Warn me if you feel it again?"

"Doctor?" Harry stopped her. "I think it's eating the power out of the Ancient systems, maybe the generators. That would explain the malfunctions and the power cuts."

Weir studied him for a second and Harry was forced to simply shrug. When it came to his abilities he couldn't really explain what his instincts guided him to say or do. It was simply fact to him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry was heading through the halls with Sergeant Stackhouse searching slowly for anything out of the ordinary when he felt the charge building in the air again. He flipped his radio on and spoke. "Doctor Weir, we've got malfunctions again." He told her being vague knowing she'd realise what he meant. Stackhouse gave him a strange look but luckily the lights flickered briefly given credence to his claim.

Just when he was about to repeat the message the lights flipped off completely leaving them in darkness. Harry flipped on the P-90s flashlight and did a sweep of the hallways in case something was creeping through it. Harry felt the charge spike suddenly before it faded and the lights came back on.

__

"We've got something here." Sheppard reported.

"Where are you, Major?"

__

"Generator five." He told Harry simply. _"It's on the move."_

"We're just around the corner, Sir." Harry told him before waving Stackhouse forwards.

__

"Watch is Captain, keep your distance." Sheppard ordered him.

Harry felt it's presence before he saw the cloud of darkness but he only realised what was happening when he saw the cloud of black energy that seemed almost exactly the same as a lightning capable cloud. Harry crouched low as he saw it and Stackhouse backed off half a step. Harry watched as Sheppard and Grodin backed away down the other end of the corridor.

Harry signalled for Stackhouse to retreat but didn't move himself, he found himself drawn to it and didn't even realise that he was tapping into his powers before it was too late. Before anyone could react it was sweeping towards him and encircling him.

Harry didn't know that he had screamed down his radio or that Stackhouse had been forced to retreat to avoid being electrocuted.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Later

Harry woke and his extensive training made him tense up as he realised that he was attached to wires. Hospital bed was his first instinct but not a normal one since he couldn't smell antiseptic in the air, not like he could during his two month stay at the Air Force Hospital in Colorado Springs.

Harry opened his eyes and looked around without moving his head and realised that he was in the corner of Beckett's infirmary in Atlantis. He was always disoriented when he woke up somewhere different to where he fell asleep but at least the colours on the walls were the same. As far as he could remember he had been attacked by that Shadow creature and it had forcibly tapped into his ability and drained him of it. The last thing he could remember was being surrounded by such a thick storm cloud that he couldn't see any of the other three people in the room.

Concern for Major Sheppard, Peter Grodin but especially Sergeant Stackhouse who had been standing right behind him coursed through him and he bolted upright and searched the room with his eyes. A propped up Lieutenant Ford was opposite him in the other corner of the room whilst on his left was Rodney McKay. The Czech scientist, Radek Zelenka was on the other end of the room sitting on a bed watching his hand as a nurse wrapped a bandage around what looked to be a burn.

"What happened?" Harry asked making both the Lieutenant and Rodney jump since neither had heard Harry pick himself up off of the sheets.

"For the love of…" Rodney curse faded off as he clutched at his chest. "What is it with the military and sneaking up on people?"

Harry cast him a small glare for not answering his question before looking at Ford expectantly. "You were knocked unconscious by the Shadow."

"I gathered that, Lieutenant. Why are you two in here and what happened while I was out?" Harry asked.

"We," Rodney paused. "And when I say we, I mean I, think that the Ancient captured the 'Shadow' to experiment on ascension. Basically it tried to absorb all the energy in Atlantis."

"It fried me pretty bad, Sir." Ford put in.

"You do look a little cooked, Lieutenant." Harry grinned slightly. His next question was driven from the fact that the air was clear again, there was no nagging sense of a storm anymore. "Where is it now?"

"On M4X-337." Rodney told him. "We tricked it through the Gate with a little heroism from me."

"From you?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Yes…" Rodney frowned. "Why are you surprised by that?"

Harry grinned at Ford before sagging back against the pillow. "Why aren't you fried like me, Sir?"

"Huh?" Harry propped himself up on an arm. "No clue." He lied.

"We think it fed off of your energy, Captain, but wasn't bothered with Lieutenant Ford." Rodney told them before looking back at his electronic notebook. Evidently he had better things to be doing than explaining anything to them.

"Captain Potter?" His name being called in a strong Scottish accent got his immediate attention and he almost groaned out loud though he noticed the smirk on Ford's face. "How long have you been awake?"

"About five minutes." Harry assured him. "I'm sure Lieutenant Ford was just about to let you know." Harry returned the smirk as Beckett turned a glare onto the Marine who lost his grin.

"Let's have a look at you then, son." Beckett walked around Rodney's bed and to his own before forcing him through ten minutes of various tests. About five minutes into them Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir walked into the room with smiles on their faces after seeing that he was awake.

"Good to see you awake, Captain." Weir told him.

"You had us worried for a while there." Beckett told him as he continued his tests.

"When you didn't wake up as quickly as the Lieutenant did we thought something more dangerous had happened." Sheppard told him.

"More dangerous than being electrocuted?" Harry asked glancing at Ford with raised eyebrows.

"Well, as bad as being electrocuted is, having your energy absorbed by an alien entity is far worse." McKay joined in with a knowing look on his face.

"And this is from experience is it?" Harry asked him with a smirk on his face.

"Thank you both." Weir ended the debate.

"When can I have my second in command back, Doctor Beckett?" Sheppard asked.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him now though I want to hold him for the night just to be on the safe side." Beckett told everyone as he finished checking Harry. "Lieutenant Ford on the other hand I want to keep at least through tomorrow until his nervous system has stabilised fully. Rodney, you can leave now if you want."

"What?" Rodney jumped. "Really?"

"Yes, Rodney, really." Beckett sighed.

Rodney jumped off of his bed and began gathering his clothing so that he could go and change. Weir and Sheppard moved over to Harry. "How are you feeling?" Weir asked him.

"Perfectly fine, Doctor." Harry told her seriously. "It didn't hurt me I don't think, I don't think it intended to knock me out either."

"That's what we thought." She told him.

"You think you'll be up for a mission the day after tomorrow?" Sheppard asked. "We want to go back to the planet that the Wraith base was on and have another look around."

"Sure." Harry told him.

"Are you sure you're up for something like that?" Weir frowned.

"Trust me, I'm built for recon and stealth missions." Harry assured her.

"When we worked together in Brazil I was there to assist him." Sheppard told Weir. "He's far better then me at tracking and being stealthy."

"And jet planes." Harry put in with modesty.

"But not Helicopters." Sheppard didn't even flinch. Harry faked a shudder feeling the same as most jet fighter pilots; that helicopters should never be trusted to stay in the air, one day everyone would realise that they couldn't actually fly and they'd all fall out of the air.

Weir laughed at them both before excusing herself. Harry shared an amused grin with Sheppard before letting himself sag against the bed's headboard. "This is going to get interesting." Harry admitted.

"I have to agree with you there." Sheppard told him.

"I wish I had my Flight here." Harry admitted. "I don't feel right without my Viper."

"They were impressive." Sheppard admitted. "What I saw of yours at any rate."

Harry smiled at him and what had started as trust became friendship. "I'd rather keep my feet on the ground if you don't mind, Sirs." Harry and Sheppard both looked at Ford and laughed.

"I could never be a Marine, far too slow." Harry teased.

"At least they let us use bigger weapons, Sir." Ford retorted.

"You mean like Scram jet missiles and Hellfires?" Harry asked. Ford groaned and gave up and Sheppard simply laughed before he excused himself. Harry glanced over towards the window and saw that it was indeed rather late and after grinning at an annoyed Marine Lieutenant he put his head down and tried to sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Wraith world - two days later

Harry crouched low to the ground and sighted through the scope on his M40A3 Sniper rifle, one of six that the Marines had brought with them. Harry was a perfect shot with a sniper and because of his work in the rainforest as reconnaissance he had used the Sniper more often than a P-90. With Sheppard and Ford nearby as well as Teyla all with P-90s he could get away with using the Sniper Rifle to look around and to take out targets. That didn't mean that he didn't have his own P-90 clipped to his tactical vest just in case he needed it.

It did mean that he had to carry around another seven and a half kilograms of weight but that had never bothered him in the hot rainforests. "Are you sure that's where it was, Sir?" Ford asked him with a sceptical tone.

"Yes, Lieutenant." Sheppard rolled his eyes though Harry didn't see it.

"It's a hole, Sir." Harry could hear the grin in Ford's voice.

"A new hole, Lieutenant." Harry interrupted before the two could begin arguing. "Whatever was there took off."

"Took off, like a big tank?" Ford asked.

"There isn't any damage to the forests." Harry pointed out something that the others, with the possible exception of Teyla, hadn't noticed yet. "It took off vertically."

"You mean the mountain was a ship?" McKay asked from his place behind Harry. Harry looked around from his scope.

"You tell me, you're the intelligent one." Harry teased. "How else could mountain vanish.

"Could it have been destroyed?" Teyla asked.

"That's definitely not a blast crater." Ford put in proving that he did know a thing or two about explosives.

"He's right, Major." Harry agreed though he hadn't come to that assumption from the crater. "There isn't any real damage to the surrounding trees. Something big enough to cause that crater would have knocked down all of the trees."

"A ship then?" Sheppard asked.

"I don't know, Sir." Ford admitted. "It was covered in trees."

"Yeah, but the Wraith hibernate for centuries, right?" Sheppard asked Teyla, "So a lot of trees could have overgrown it in that time."

"Then we were held prisoner inside one of the great ships I showed you in the drawings." Teyla told him. "They've left to begin culling worlds."

Harry winced before bringing his eyes back to the tree line below them. "Shit!" He swore as the trees moved and he caught sight of a group of aliens. They matched the description of the Wraith that Sheppard and Ford had left in their reports. "We've got Wraith."

One of the Wraith saw them and levelled his weapon up at them and fired. White energy shoot out and everybody dodged as the projectile hit the tree behind them and spread out before dissipating.

"Time to go." Sheppard told them. Harry rolled up from his place on the ground and followed the others through the trees even as he slipped the sniper over his back and pulled his P-90 free of its restraining straps.

Their group got separated along the way when Sheppard paused to give covering fire and Harry was forced to grab Rodney to keep him from slowing down. After that Sheppard got separated and Harry paused to assess the situation. "Major Sheppard, what's your position?" He asked into the radio but didn't get any response. He turned to the Teyla, Rodney and Ford. "Get back to the Jumper. If we're not there in five minutes then get off the ground and come back for us later."

Teyla looked ready to argue but Harry was already turning his back on them. "Yes Sir." Ford agreed and tugged at Rodney to get him moving again. Teyla followed them rather reluctantly.

Harry began to retrace his steps, the real reason he hadn't wanted Teyla there became evident immediately though nobody was there to witness it. Black overcame his eyes, not as if the pupil had expanded but more like the thickest of storm clouds had spread across them. He reached out to sense any disturbance in the air. He could follow their own path easily enough since they had headed through rather rapidly but finding a single, slow moving, person was much more difficult especially with wind around them.

Killing the slight breeze was easily done with a slight increase of air pressure and soon it was slightly easier to track any disturbance to the air. He found one not far away that was probably Sheppard and he headed for it carefully in case it was in fact a Wraith.

Sheppard was staggering through the forest when Harry released his powers and stepped out of the trees but the man wasn't so far gone that he couldn't raise his P-90 at him. Harry waited for him to recognise him before moving forwards to intercept him. "Major, what the hell?" Harry asked seeing the bug creature attached to his neck.

"Let's just get out of here before the Wraith catch up to us." Sheppard groaned as a wave of pain swept over him.

Harry slipped an arm under and around Sheppard's shoulders and felt the man tighten his grip on him. As they retraced Harry's steps Harry became more and more aware that he was holding more of Sheppard's weight until he was almost carrying him. Sheppard paused slightly when they were still two minutes from the Puddle jumper but Harry just forced him along. "I'm not leaving you here, Major. You think I want to be in charge of all of this?" Harry joked before picking up his pace even though he knew that his original five minutes had long gone.

As soon as they entered the clearing where the Jumper was cloaked it instantly de-cloaked and Ford came pelting towards them and slipped in under Major Sheppard's other arm to help Harry carry him. As soon as they were inside the ship Harry started giving orders. "Sergeant Markham, get us back to Atlantis!"

"Yes Sir." The Sergeant said even as Teyla closed the back door. They were too late though and several blasts of energy hit the hull of the Jumper as Wraith emerged from the trees. The ship shuddered as it flew into the air and up into space. Harry span where he stood and knelt beside Major Sheppard who was propped up against the back door. Ford stood beside Harry whilst Teyla crouched beside him studying the bug.

"Watch him Ford." Harry ordered before turning to McKay. "Sit down." McKay didn't even argue, the sight of the bug clutching onto Sheppard's neck was enough o silence even the noisiest of people. Harry walked into the control section of the ship and Sergeant Markham handed him the controls. The Sergeant had the ATA gene but he wasn't a pilot in any sense of the word. If they had known that they would have these Puddlejumpers they would have brought more pilots with them but there wasn't anything they could do about it now.

Harry instantly knew that something was wrong from the feel of the ship, he had brought it through on the way to the planet to get a feel for it and it wasn't going nearly as fast as it could have. "McKay, one of the engines is damaged." Even as he said it the HUD activated and a schematic of the ship appeared with the right engine shaded red.

"There's nothing I can do about it in space!" McKay complained.

"Whatever." Harry sighed before shutting down the HUD and concentrating on the floating Stargate.

A gun shot behind him seconds later made him jerk the ship but it was the Major's screaming that got his complete attention. "Markham." Harry ordered and gave up control to the man so he could find out what had happened. He walked back into the storage area and knew instantly that Ford had tried to shot off the bug…without luck.

"It fed on the Major's life and healed itself." Teyla told him after he asked what had happened.

"Like the Wraith do?" Harry asked.

"Indeed."

"Well, shit." Harry put in calmly. "Ford, dial the gate and tell Atlantis to have Beckett ready in the Jumper bay."

"Yes Sir." The Marine sounded ashamed and Harry reassured him with a look. He would have tried to shoot it off too. Harry crouched beside Sheppard and pulled out one of his Sai.

"Get this damn thing off of me, Captain." Sheppard ordered.

"We can't." Teyla told him while Harry looked around the bug with the sharp end of his Sai.

"Cut it off!" Sheppard looked at Harry. "That's an order."

"No, Sir." Harry refused the order. "You're no longer in command of this mission, I am and we're not going to harm it again. It'll just take from you."

"There must be something we can do for him!" Teyla asserted desperately.

"There's a first aid kit behind the pilot's seat." McKay joined in from beside Harry as he crouched to study the creature. "Go get it."

Teyla stood up and left returning half a minute later with the box.

__

"Atlantis Base, this is Ford. Jumper One is inbound with a medical emergency. Please respond." Ford's voice sounded from Harry's earpiece and through the Jumper doors at the same time.

__

"This is Atlantis, what is the medical emergency?" Harry didn't recognise the voice but he was the one to respond.

"This is Captain Potter. Major Sheppard has a leech that is slowly killing him." Harry told the man impatiently. He didn't like people that asked why before when. McKay began shifting through the contents of the first aid kit as Teyla told him to find something for the pain. All through this Sheppard just stared at Harry with desperate eyes. "Don't worry Major. I've seen worse creatures than this, everything has a weak spot, we just have to find it." Harry told him thinking of the immortal Dementors and wondering how the Wraith would take to them.

"How much longer?" Teyla yelled to Ford.

"Almost there!" He yelled back before his voice switch to the radio as well. _"Jumper One on final approach."_

"This is Weir, what is the nature of Major Sheppard's injury?" Weir's voice asked and Ford looked around at Harry who stood and turned towards the front of the ship to speak to her even though it wasn't necessary.

"An Alien leech like bug has attached itself to his neck." Harry reported.

__

"What's it doing to him?" Weir asked.

"We're not sure yet but we can't shift it. Everything we've tried simply hurts the Major." Harry told her.

__

"You understand the risk of bringing something like that back to Atlantis?" Weir asked.

"I do but I'm not planning on leaving the Major behind." Harry told her resolutely.

__

"Understood Captain. Good luck." She told him before the line went dead.

"Here we go." Ford warned them just as they reached the gate. Harry turned to face Major Sheppard just as they entered the wormhole but half way through the turn the ship lurched violently and instantly came to a standstill. Even with his above average balance and reflexes he couldn't prevent himself from going flying. His head arrested his fall as it slammed into the side of the door to the control room now immersed in the wormhole.

He must have blacked out for a second before he opened his eyes with a view of the event horizon an inch from his face and his head against the floor. He rolled backwards away from it and pulled himself to his knees just as Teyla appeared in front of him. "Captain? Are you ok?"

"Ouch." Harry muttered at her loud voice through his headache and possible concussion. "I'm fine." He looked around and saw Ford's hand and shoulder just outside of the event horizon and he and Teyla reacted as one and grabbed him and pulled him back through into the rear section.

"Whoa!" Ford stood and fidgeted presumably to get rid of a residual sensation. "Captain? Are you alright?"

Harry frowned before reaching up a hand to feel the fresh blood on the side of his face. He felt up to his forehead carefully to find that he had a nasty cut above his left eye just lower than his curse scar used to lay before it had faded. He winced but ignored it. "I'll be fine for a few minutes. What happened?"

"The drive pods." McKay told him with a worried face which spoke more about their current dilemma than any words could. "The wing things that stick out when we are flying." He explained for Teyla and Ford's benefit. "They must have failed to retract. That's the only thing that it could be. Well, it's that or... the Stargate shrank, which I highly doubt. This is a big problem."

"The Major was knocked out by the impact." Teyla pointed out before heading off to check on him.

"Can we pull Markham and Stackhouse out?" Ford asked.

"Our hands would dematerialise as soon as they passed the event horizon." McKay sighed before he remembered something. "Is there a manual way to retract the drive pods?"

Harry frowned trying to remember everything he had seen in the cockpit. "I think so but if there is it's in the front section."

"Which is unfortunately dematerialised at the moment." McKay sighed.

"Nothing's that easy, Doctor." Harry told him with a small smile that became a wince as it pulled at his cut.

__

"Jumper One, this is Weir." Harry almost jumped having forgotten that they'd be expecting them. _"What's your status?"_

"You don't want to know." Harry muttered under his breath though only McKay heard him. "Doctor Weir, this is Captain Potter. Jumper one is lodged in the Stargate with Sergeants Stackhouse and Markham in the front section and myself, Rodney, Teyla, Lieutenant Ford and Major Sheppard in the rear section. The Major's unconscious."

__

"How did that happen?" She asked shocked and rightly so since the actual passage through the Stargate was automated apart from the approach.

"We think it was one or both of the Engine pods. One of them took damage on the way out of the atmosphere and hasn't retracted properly." Harry sighed.

"It's the only viable possibility." McKay put in his two cents.

__

"If I understand you correctly you won't be able to access the flight controls?" Weir asked.

Harry was about to answer when a wave of unexpected nausea overwhelmed him and sent him reeling so much that Ford had to jump behind him and steady him. Harry turned blearily to look at him. "Sir, you need to sit down."

"I'm fine, Lieutenant." Harry countered but another wave, this time of dizziness, forced him to accept Ford's instructions and he let himself be guided onto one of the chairs.

__

"Captain, are you still there?"

"Doctor Weir, this is Ford. We can't access the forward controls." Ford told her.

__

"Where's Captain Potter?" She asked.

"I'm still here." Harry told her.

"Captain Potter struck the bulkhead and has a serious cut on his forehead which is bleeding rather heavily." Teyla explained patiently as she sat beside him and forced his head back so she could wipe at the blood and discover the extent of the damage. "I believe he may have a concussion or a fracture."

__

"Take it easy Captain."

"I will when we're not about to be cut in half, Doctor." Harry argued.

__

"I'm serious, Captain. Take it easy." Weir ordered.

"As worried as we all are over the Captain's head and we all know I'd love to discuss his lack of self regard, right up until the Stargate shuts down and we are cut in half." Rodney stated.

"That's what I said." Harry pointed out to Teyla.

"Please remain still, Captain." Teyla told him bluntly.

__

"Rodney, calm down." Weir said and Harry realised that McKay was still talking. "_Rodney! If I'm going to be of any help to you at all, I need to catch up! Lieutenant Ford, back it up for me."_

Harry tuned out as Ford described everything that they had seen up until they had been spotted by the Wraith. All the way through the story Harry let Teyla clean his forehead and place a plaster rather haphazardly over the wound even though Harry had to explain the small things to her. Harry touched the plaster and winced. Definitely a small fracture but he'd had worse. Like a bullet through the leg.

"She hardly meant from the beginning." Rodney complained as soon as Ford took a breather.

"This is intel, she needs to know." Ford pointed out.

"And we have less than thirty-eight minutes." Rodney pointed out in irritation.

__

"Hold on, why thirty-eight minutes?" Weir asked.

"Because that is the maximum amount of time a Stargate can remain open in non-relativistic conditions." Rodney lectured. "It is one of the more immutable laws of wormhole physics. And oh my look at the time! It's more like thirty-five minutes now. Are we all caught up?"

__

"I get it, what do you need?"

"Help." Rodney stated simply.

__

"All right, let me put Kavanaugh, Grodin, and Simpson in a room. See what they come up with." Weir told them.

"That's good." Rodney said. "And the Czech whose name I can never remember."

__

"Doctor Zelenka?"

"That's him." Rodney said before spinning and picking a data-board from the netting around the walls of the room. "We'll work it on our end."

__

"What else?"

"We'll call you, thank you." Rodney told him.

Harry grabbed the flask of water from his tactical vest and downed half of it in satisfaction, he really hated concussions.

"Captain, are you going to be ok?" Ford asked him in concern.

"I'll be fine, Lieutenant." Harry told him.

"Sending you through the event horizon would be as good as putting you into stasis so you don't get any worse." McKay paused in his work to check him over.

"Why don't we all just go through and then when the wormhole shuts down we'll be in Atlantis?" Ford asked.

"It doesn't work like that, it's either all of the ship or none of it." McKay pointed out.

"Either way it wont matter what side we're one but it would prevent you from getting worse, Captain Potter." Teyla pointed out.

"Not a chance and that's the end of it," Harry told them before pulling himself up. "I'm not bugging out until I'm sure every single one of you is safe. That's final Lieutenant. I've done more with worse injuries than this. I am going to go sit with the Major though."

Just as he slouched onto the ground, leaning again the side chairs near his feet, the Major woke up and stared around at them all. Teyla noticed and came to sit on his other side.

"Hey Teyla," Sheppard spoke seeing her first. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She told him simply.

"Something tells me we haven't made it to Atlantis yet." Sheppard pointed out before looking at McKay and Ford.

"No." Teyla said bluntly but then sighed.

"Ford what is that?" Sheppard asked looking between the standing Marine and the event horizon.

"We're stuck, Sir." Ford told him.

"We're what?"

"In the Gate." Ford clarified.

"You mean my day just got worse?" Sheppard asked before looking for and finding Harry. "Captain, what happened to you?"

"Hit my head on the wall when the ship lurched." Harry admitted sheepishly. "The right engine pod was damaged when we took off but there was nothing we could have done about it. We think it's lodged us in the Gate."

"Do you know of any manual retraction that isn't in the front section?" Rodney asked.

"No." Sheppard told him simply.

"No, I didn't think so. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be a foot and a half over there taking some readings. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves." Rodney muttered before turning his back on them and started to play with a drop down circuitry panel.

Harry didn't remember much of the events that took place in the near future. Having a concussion did that to you. He was aware of what was happening and even put in a few comments of his own but he left Rodney to his own devices and left Ford and Teyla to experiment with the bug as he moved onto one of the seats to stay out of the way. He hated being helpless but there wasn't much he could do that Ford couldn't.

He found himself wishing that he could simply electrocute the bug but that would simply kill Sheppard and probably all of them as well since he'd have to create a storm in a bottle to create it. Then again the bug would probably let go if Sheppard died, that's what the Wraith would do.

"That's it!" Harry uncoiled form the chair and found his way down to the floor.

"Captain, are you ok?"

"Hush Ford." Harry hushed him. "I've got an idea."

__

"What is it, Captain?" Beckett asked him.

"We kill the Major." Harry explained though he knew his words weren't making much sense since he was half expecting them to know everything that he did.

"Teyla, I don't think the Captain is going to be much help at the moment." Ford told her and Harry felt her grip on his arm.

"Stop it." Harry stopped them both. "Teyla, if this thing is like the Wraith then what do you think would happen if the Major died?"

"It would let him go." Teyla informed him half understanding where he was going.

__

"How is that going to help us?" Weir asked.

"We electrocute him." Harry told her. "Use the Defibrillator to stop his heart so that the bug withdraws and then try to start it again."

"Try?" Sheppard asked in horror.

__

"It could actually work, Major." Beckett told them. _"If you can't restart his heart after the first attempt them put him through the event horizon so we can do it on this end. Captain do you know what to do?"_

"I do, but I don't think I should." Harry looked up at the suddenly relieved expressions on the faces of the other three members of the five man team. "I'm barely lucid."

"I can do it." Ford nodded at Harry who nodded back. Harry moved right out of the way knowing that he'd only get in the way. "If this doesn't work we're going to need that door open."

"Already on it." Rodney told him before the door slid open again.

"Someone will have to take him through." Harry pointed out.

"I'll take him." Teyla agreed.

"I'll go through too." Harry told Ford knowing that he was close to sleep anyway with his concussion and he didn't want to do that until Beckett had had a look at him. "Give me your sidearm, Lieutenant."

"What for?" Ford was wary.

"So I can kill it when it let's go. I can do that at least and I want you concentrating on the Major's life." Harry told him but it wasn't an order.

Ford nodded and handed him the pistol which Harry opened up to check before cocking it. He watched as Beckett talked them through the process and then stood as they sent the shock of electricity through the Major. He fingered the trigger and took aim as Teyla managed to pry the bug off of Sheppard's neck and he shot it twice in the head and three times in the body as soon as it hit the other seats and then threw a jacket over it for good measure.

"Nothing, let's get him through!" Ford told him. Harry chucked the pistol onto the side and ignored his own head in favour of grabbing the 'dead' Major and helping Teyla to take him through the event horizon. He gave McKay one last encouraging smile before heading through.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Five minutes later - or a moment

Harry felt him falling and without thinking about it he twisted around so that the Major fell on him rather than the other way around. He felt his back hit the control console but gave it no mind as he cradled Sheppard's body to his chest. Teyla picked herself up off the floor as well. Neither of them had bothered with how they went through the event horizon, just as long as they did.

"Captain?" McKay asked as the rest of the ship came out of the event horizon. Harry blearily looked at him and then beyond to a very weary looking Ford standing in front of the open back door of the Jumper as it rose into the air.

"What the hell?" He heard Stackhouse mutter.

"I believe we will have to explain later, Sergeants." Teyla told the two in the pilots seats as they looked at the scene in shock. Harry simply groaned and tightened his grip on Sheppard, he knew he was being overly protective but a part of him told him that he had reacted the same way after devastating the rebel compound. He'd clutched Michael's dead body to him then as well.

The Jumper settled smoothly onto the floor of the Jumper bay and the others moved into the corners as Beckett and his team rushed in. Beckett ran straight for Sheppard and Harry released his hold on the man and helped the doctor lie him flat on his back before he too moved to one side. He stood peacefully next to Teyla and they both watched as Beckett jolted him four times before they got a proper heart beat. Harry forcefully stopped his hands from shaking and simply listened to the beating of Major Sheppard's heart on the monitor listening as it steadily became softer and more like music. He dimly heard the voices of Doctor Weir, Teyla and Doctor Beckett join the symphony in his head before he was dreaming of every time he had ever seen Michael.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	6. Seeing through the Cracks

Cast between Worlds

A/N; Any suggestions for a better title to this chapter are more than welcome. This is the only one I could come up with.

Chapter 6; Seeing through the Cracks

Harry was forced to stay in the infirmary for the night after they arrived back from the Wraith World. Carson Beckett had been worried that his fracture was worse then it seemed but after an x-ray of his skull it was decided that he just needed to take it easy for a while. Hence why he now sat fully uniformed on a bed in the infirmary, though it wasn't his bed from the night before last.

Whereas Harry had spent a single night in the infirmary for observation and then a day of easy duty working with Peter Grodin from the Control Room to organise the search teams, Major Sheppard had been forced to stay in his infirmary bed for the two nights since his resuscitation. Harry had promised that he'd report to the Major first thing in the morning after seeing the teams off on their day's exploring to tell him about events over the night.

"Rodney spilt his coffee on himself this morning." Harry smirked across at the propped up man as he finished the initial reports of who was where today. "Oh, I almost forgot, one of the Athosians tripped over a power lead but Doctor Beckett doesn't think it'll need surgery."

"Where did you get your humour from?" Sheppard asked without even blinking.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're the one that wanted a report, Sir."

"I'm bored out of my mind." Sheppard complained. "You can't blame me."

"You've only been here two days!" Harry argued. "I was in Colorado for two months before they let me go."

"That's what you get for being shot." Sheppard quipped.

Harry snorted. "I'll take being shot over having the life sucked out of me by a bug any day."

"So I win?" Sheppard asked.

Harry paused with a thoughtful look. "I always lose at this game."

"We can't all be as good at it as me." Sheppard grinned.

"It's not that, Sir." Harry smirked. "Most of my best material is classified."

Sheppard's eyebrows rose with an amused look. "You can't use that as an excuse, it's part of the rules."

"What rules?" Harry scoffed. "Ok, so you're using having a bug try to suck the life out of you?"

"With Ford killing me on your orders as a trump card." Sheppard grinned inanely.

"The trump doesn't count because it saved you." Harry shook his head. "How about my run in with that Shadow cloud? I think having the energy sucked out of you matches having the life sucked out."

Sheppard paused to think about it. "Done, we're even."

Harry grinned properly and Sheppard saw his eyes light up with proper enjoyment. Harry stood. "Just you wait until I can breach the classification, there's some weird stuff there, Sir. Now, if you don't mind, my head injury means that I have the whole day to teach Athosians how to use our weapons."

"Sucks to be you." Sheppard grinned at his own pun. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Have a nice day lounging, Sir." Harry retorted and Sheppard's grin vanished with a groan as Harry slipped out of the infirmary with a brief wave at a lingering Doctor Beckett.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

An hour later

"Right. I want everybody's undivided attention!" Harry called over the bustle of talking in the room that they'd found in the base of the tower. It was about twenty-five metres long and about fifteen wide. Possibly some sort of conference room in it's time it was now being used to teach basic weaponry. Harry was standing apart from the main gathering with five Marine Corporals behind him since none of the Sergeants or either lieutenant could really be spared from exploring the city. The room went silent as the Athosian adults that had volunteered to help defend the city and also every scientist that didn't already know how to handle a weapon properly gave him their attention.

Harry drew in his breath and forced a smile onto his face. "For those that don't already know me, my name is Captain Potter, an Air Force Pilot. You've all volunteered, or been requested, to join us here today so that you can learn the skills needed to safely handle either a handgun or a P-90." Harry paused for effect before continuing. "I don't expect many of you to be able to do any damage to an enemy at the end of this session but that isn't the purpose. Today's purpose is to ensure that you don't mistreat these weapons and kill yourself or your allies and friends."

There was a smattering of nervous muttering and Harry waited it out patiently. "These weapons are dangerous. They don't stun like the Wraith weapons, they are designed with one purpose and that is to kill. People like myself and the Marines are expert enough to use them defensively or to capture a target but you are a long way from that. The only reason that you will need to use these weapons is if your life is in danger and if that is the case then you will go in to kill." Harry drew in a breath. "I only have a few rules but if even one of them is broken I'll personally put you in the infirmary under Doctor Beckett's care."

There were frowns from the scientists especially one that Harry recognised as Doctor Kavanagh who seemed to want to argue that Harry couldn't do such a thing to them. Harry just held their gazes until they got the point before he continued. "Rule number one, nobody does anything without my permission or permission from one of the Marine Corporals. That includes talking, walking or touching anything that you didn't personally bring into this room." Harry glared at Rodney to shut him up and the leader of the scientist shut his mouth with a click. "Rule number two, once we get around to handling the weapons you will not take off the safeties or load them without either myself or the corporals standing right next to you. Rule number three, nobody is allowed to point the weapons anywhere but at the ground at your own feet unless instructed overwise. That way if you decide to be an idiot then you'll only shoot yourself in the foot and not anybody else. Is that all understood?"

He got a round of nods and a smattering of affirmatives. He narrowed his eyes at them all before gesturing to one of the Corporals who handed him a 9mm handgun, the first of his list of itinerary for the day.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

That evening

Harry waved the last of the Corporals from the room with the promise that he would carry the last armoury box down to the secondary armoury as soon as he left. He slid down the wall and lay his head down on his crossed arms which were in turn placed on the tops of his knees. He used to sit on the balcony of Gryffindor Tower like this when he was younger but that was over ten years ago now. Nine since he'd left Hogwarts for the last time after killing Voldemort.

He wondered for a moment what everyone he had known was doing. Most of them would have fallen into the Wizarding flock of sheep and blended in perfectly but he knew a few that would stick out for all time. Neville was hopefully teaching the students some proper common sense and Luna was probably equalling shocking them into stupidity just like she had done when they were in school together. Hermione had supposedly been working with the British Military placing protections against Magic on their bases. Remus would be busy fighting for equality in a community that really wasn't interested in it. He didn't know which he would rather have here to help them out of the mess they had gotten themselves into. Hermione would be useful with her non-magical background and knowledge of wards and she'd know if there was magic capable of protecting them from the Wraith but she wasn't a fighter. Luna would also be useful with her Seeing abilities and she always knew how to make him laugh but she too wasn't a fighter. Neville on the other hand would be handy if it came to defending the city or fighting the Wraith off world but he was too much like Harry had been in his youth, always jumping into a fight without scoping it out first and the last time Harry had relapsed to that state of mind, Michael had been killed.

Michael…that was who he really wanted out here at his side. The best friend he'd ever had and the last person he had really trusted beyond all doubt. He'd give anything to have Michael there with him but that wasn't possible and he'd realised that all over again when he'd come through the Wormhole clutching Sheppard's dead body.

"Captain?" A voice startled him but he forced himself to be still to avoid giving away his exaggerated flinch. "Harry?"

He looked up at Doctor Weir with a small smile. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in, Doctor…uh…Elizabeth."

"Doctor Elizabeth?" She smiled at him. "That's a new one."

Harry pushed himself up the wall and adjusted his uniform jacket to straighten himself out. "I was just taking a break before I take the last of the weapons down to the armoury and head up to report to Major Sheppard."

"That's perfectly alright. John said he didn't envy you the task of teaching weapon safety to scientists." Elizabeth commented.

"Yeah well, it was more mentally tiring then physically and after I threatened to put them into the infirmary personally if they broke my rules they behaved rather well." Harry smirked at her.

She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment on his teaching methods. "So what were you doing?"

"Thinking about old friends." Harry answered honestly. "And trying to figure out which one I'd want out here to help us out of this mess we've gotten ourselves into."

"Did you come to any conclusion?" She asked him subtly.

"Not really. One of them works as a consultant for the British Military, two are teachers at my old boarding school and the other is…well…the other would have been Michael Greyley." Harry admitted honestly.

"I see. General O'Neill told me you had no Next-Of-Kin listed before he made you pick somebody." She decided to just be blunt. "Why didn't you put one of your other friends down before?"

Harry gave her a slightly quelling look but gave in anyway. "My old friends couldn't really be called more than acquaintances anymore. We keep in contact but I'm not a part of their lives or world anymore."

She frowned but let it slide assuming it was something about his upbringing, also classified. "Are you up to continuing your lesson?"

Harry almost groaned. "Who did you have in mind?"

"Myself." She told him. "I've never really fired one of these before."

"Sure thing." Harry nodded glad to be away from their previous conversation topics. He stepped over to the armoury case and lifted one of the 9mms and a clip of ammo. "I'm sure you recognise this one from the reports." He went on to explain the gun before he cocked it and took a step away and fired it three times down at one of the remaining man shaped planks of wood at the far end. All three bullets slammed into the head of the man and lodged there.

"Good shot." She commented having seen people firing in ranges before.

"An unfortunate curse that gets you landed in Black Ops. Major Sheppard has the same accuracy as me at short range though he isn't as good with a Sniper as I am." Harry conceded. "He is marginally better with a P-90 in close quarters but he's had more practice with it than me. I tended to use a Sniper in the jungles."

"You'd have made a good team back on Earth then." She pointed out as she gingerly took hold of the pistol in both hands and adjusted her grip. "You compliment each others abilities."

"Except the only mission we've done together was a complete failure." Harry pointed out without emotion.

"You did better than anyone could have expected if they had known the entire situation like you did." She told him before firing once. The gun kicked back and the wall beside the man dusted slightly as the bullet went high and to the right.

"Concentrate on the gun, not on words." Harry told her sharply in an attempt to stop her from digging through his emotions. He watched as she fired four more times carefully. The next two missed but the third hit the mans shoulder and the last hit in its neck. "Better."

He took the gun from her and pulled the clip out and returned them both to the box and came back with a P-90 and it's larger ammo clip. "You know that myself and John both believe that what you did in Brazil was amazing. John has a lot of respect for what you did. So does General O'Neill."

"They are just gratefully that I got myself shot down to save them from that Drone on Antarctica. And in hindsight it was a pointless gesture." Harry retorted with the same emotionless air.

"It's the thought that counts." Elizabeth pointed out. "You sacrificed yourself to save them. The Pentagon must agree otherwise they wouldn't have sent you out here."

"They sent me out here because they didn't have anything else to do with me." Harry put in before showing her how to load the gun and switch off the safety. He braced it against his shoulder. "Not everyone in the Pentagon likes me. Only the ones that don't know my past." He fired and the bullet passed straight through the wood over the 'man's' heart.

He handed her the P-90 and she adjusted her grip to get used to it. Harry continued his explanation. "They only assigned me to the Viper experiment because they hoped it would fail and wanted to take me down too. Friends of the Senator I testified against."

She fired once and almost dropped the weapon as it recoiled. The bullet passed through the left hand and shattered it slightly. "I've read your file, Harry, and so has John and neither of us think we could last out here without your presence. That's why I let John put you on his team. We need the two best people out there on the front line. I don't think we can afford to coddle one of you in case the other gets hurt. I can't afford to lose either of you and the best chance I have of keeping you both alive is to have you side by side."

Her forcefulness translated into her aim and she let loose a short stream of bullets that ripped into the board's left side. "Thing's go wrong around me, Elizabeth. My choice to get captured rather then go for help got Michael killed because they no longer needed to worry about what the British would do to them if they killed him." Harry told her sharply. "And it isn't the first time that my actions got somebody hurt."

"Why do you always put yourself down?" She asked him as she gave up the P-90 to him.

"Because everybody insists in seeing something in me that doesn't exist." Harry almost snapped but brought the gun up to bare on the abused man at the end of the room. He glared down at it seeing the face of Michael's killer superimposed over it. He sent a carefully guided stream down the hall and it tore straight across it's neck sending the head falling sideways onto the ground in a shower of splinters. "You've never killed before have you Elizabeth?"

She turned to him in shock and nearly gasped at the look in his eyes. Pain filled but forcibly emotionless at the same time. Cold beyond anything she had seen before. She shook her head slowly. "Major Sheppard and I have killed a lot of people in our time because we've followed orders and it takes a toll. We cope the best we can but sometimes the things we have to do to keep people like you from having to kill means we cross lines. Kill more people then is necessary."

She frowned at him and Harry decided to elaborate knowing that he couldn't be friends with her unless she accepted him properly for what he was. "Did you know I had the Military Cross?"

"General O'Neill pointed it out when he proposed that you joined us though I didn't know that an American citizen could be awarded it." She told him nervously, unsure where the conversation was going.

"Normally its not but I was born in Britain and I'm still dual nationality. The Queen awarded it to me and gave me permission to wear it on my American Uniform." Harry told her before placing the P-90 in the case and shutting it. "I got that when I was sixteen."

"Sixteen!" Elizabeth couldn't contain her surprise. "What for?"

"Because I killed a lot of people that were planning on killing a lot more people." Harry told her. "I've was being forced to kill people long before Major Sheppard was out of Air Force Academy. I know what mistakes are and I promise you that what I did in Brazil, good outcome or not, miraculously carried out or not, was the worst mistake I have ever made and it lost me my best friend and the only people that I could call a family." He narrowed his eyes at her finally getting to his actual point. "Never tell me I did the right thing, or that what I did was honourable or the only thing possible. If you do I cant be help responsible for what I might do to you."

Harry spun on his heel and hefted the armoury box leaving a shaken Elizabeth Weir in his wake.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Two weeks later

Harry stared out at the water that stretched into the distance unbroken even by large waves. He stood on the far edge of the North Pier on what could be considered the roof of the pier itself. Behind him at least a hundred towers broke the surface and rose up into the air creating the delicate city. The Pier itself was six stories high and was filled with corridors and rooms and who knew what else. In front of him was a dramatic drop down to the water that slowly rose and fell against the end of the pier.

"Whoever built this obviously had too much time on their hands." Harry commented to the Sergeant that had joined him for the day.

"Or really wanted to prove something, Sir." Bates pointed out. Harry grunted in response. He'd gone on four of the eight missions that Major Sheppard's team had gone on and encountered the Wraith on two of them. Sheppard had faced the Wraith on two more of the remaining four where Harry had stayed behind to help the exploration teams. Because of the long hours and the effort involved in babysitting over excited Scientists and Engineers he had won Sergeant Bates' respect.

So he was standing at the end of the Pier in the section that Doctor Radek Zelenka had chosen this morning for a target area. He could hear the scientist clamouring away on the radio and after ensuring that the area was safe he had retreated up here to get some fresh air and found a nice platform almost twice the size of an Aircraft Carrier's deck.

"Major Sheppard should be reporting in in two hours, Captain." Bates spoke up after a minutes silence.

Harry eyed the man carefully. The Sergeant had taken to Harry easily enough but hadn't done the same for Major Sheppard. Harry knew the man didn't trust Sheppard's trusting nature and Harry and Bates were much more alike in their distrust of olive branches. "I know you're concerned about this stream of Wraith encounters, Sergeant. Let's see what happens this time before we jump to conclusions."

"Yes, Sir." Bates eyed him warily obviously wondering whether he'd misjudged Harry's careful nature.

"Don't worry, Sergeant Bates, I see the problem clearly enough." Harry told him. "If this isn't coincidence then we have some sort of spy here and it can't be somebody from the expedition."

"Yes, Sir." Was all that Bates said and Harry didn't blame him. He didn't want to suspect the Athosians either.

__

"Captain Potter, Gate room." Came the rather abrupt announcement on his radio. Bates perked up as he, and every other Marine, heard the message through his radio.

"What is it, Markham?" Harry asked recognising the voice easily since he'd spent a lot of time going through Sergeant Markham whenever they needed to talk to the Marines when they were off duty.

__

"Major Sheppard's team just returned before schedule." The 'again' didn't need to be said out loud, Harry heard it easily. _"Doctor McKay took a Wraith stunner blast to the face as soon as they stepped through."_

"Where are they now?" Harry asked glancing up at the knowing look on Bates' face.

__

"They're in the infirmary waiting for him to come around. I thought you'd like to be kept in the loop." Markham told him. Harry narrowed his eyes, the tone of voice was clear, the Marines wanted him to do something about the situation before it got worse.

"Thank you, Sergeant." Harry cut the connection and turned to Bates. "I know, Sergeant. Recall the exploration teams for the day."

"Yes, Sir." Bates opened his mouth but shut it again.

"I understand your concerns, Sergeant. But don't do anything without talking to me first." Harry told him.

"Yes, Sir." Bates said rather characteristically.

Harry eyed him carefully for a moment. "Do I need to make that a direct order, Sergeant Bates? Or can I trust you to follow orders on your own?"

"No, Sir. Of course you can trust me." Bates told him and Harry saw no lie in his eyes.

"Good. I would hate to have to choose another head of security when you are the best for the job." Harry said honestly before turning for the door in the nearest tower and from there headed for the nearest transport room a ten minute jog away

He took the transport to just down the corridor to the control room and went straight there. "Captain Potter?" Peter Grodin almost jumped in surprise at the fully armed Air Force Captain. "Major Sheppard is down in the infirmary waiting for Doctor McKay to wake up."

"And Doctor Weir?" Harry asked without commenting on the fact that he didn't need to know the Major's whereabouts.

"She's in her office." Grodin told him with a frown. Harry paused to think for a moment before turning away from the office and to the stairs that led down to the Stargate. Four Marines, there 'Gate Guard', stood there talking.

"Sergeant, Corporals." Harry greeted them quietly.

"Captain Potter?" Sergeant Markham wasn't surprised to see him there and Harry sighed. Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir were deluded if they thought that the Marines would just stand aside and let the possibility of a spy in their midst go uninvestigated.

"Sergeant, a word please." Harry asked. The Sergeant waved the Corporals to the other side of the stairs and Harry leant in slightly. "If anybody asks to go off world, Athosian or our own, stop them and report directly to me. Understood?"

"Yes Sir." Markham told him. Harry nodded at the younger man who would be well on the way to being his friend if Harry wasn't his senior officer.

"Carry on, Sergeant." Harry nodded before cutting back through the control room and politely knocking on Elizabeth's office door. She waved him in and Harry waved his hand in front of the door lock and it hissed open. "Good afternoon, Elizabeth."

They'd overcome the awkwardness of their friendship after Harry had snapped at her in the weapons training session but his goal had been achieved. Even though she and Major Sheppard talked to him about his various missions, hobbies and interests they both stayed well clear of anything to do with Brazil. Major Sheppard had realised after hearing about the incident with Elizabeth that Harry had every right to view Brazil as an utter failure even though the Pentagon had given him a medal for his efforts. Instead he and Major Sheppard talked most about their flying experiences especially the experimental aircraft that Harry had flown over the years. The three of them got together for dinner every evening that they could partly to get to know each other better but also to represent a solid leadership to the others in the expedition.

"Harry? I didn't think you were due to finish exploring until later this evening." She waved him to a seat but he remained standing.

"I called it off early." Harry told her simply.

"Did you hear about the attack then?" She asked. "I was going to wait until you finished to tell you about it."

"Sergeant Markham reported it to me." Harry told her. "The Marines are getting rather nervous about it all."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Harry drew in a long breath. "The Wraith have showed up five times out of nine and always against Major Sheppard's team and not team two or three." He told her simply. "That set of odds can't just be coincidence."

"I've noticed that myself." She sighed.

"The Marines are worried about a spy here in Atlantis." Harry told her bluntly. "To be honest so am I."

"You think someone here could be working with the Wraith?" She asked rather than giving her own opinion.

"How else do you explain it?" Harry asked with a frown. "It's not like any of us really know any of the Athosians."

"Why do you assume its an Athosian?" Elizabeth asked.

Harry stared at her. "Have any of our expedition had the opportunity to make deals with the Wraith?" Harry countered. "I'm not suggesting locking them all up and interrogating them. All I'm saying is we need to interview them all, make sure that none of them are outcasts or anything."

She sighed and collapsed back against the chair's backrest. "I hate the idea of not trusting them."

"I know you do, it's what makes you and Major Sheppard good people." Harry sighed and shut his eyes briefly. "I prefer to mistrust everyone I don't know. It's saved me a few times even if people don't like me because of it."

"You don't want to leave me any choice do you?" She said in resignation.

"Unless you want the Marines to do something themselves." Harry shrugged. "I've ordered Sergeant Markham to report anybody asking for off world access."

She stood up. "Marines, or you?"

Harry eyed her for a moment. "We're stuck out here. I'll do everything necessary to make sure we stay alive."

"That's reassuring." She told him before leading the way from the room through the second door that would lead them away from the control room. Harry didn't know if her words were serious or not.

They headed for the infirmary to find Major Sheppard since Harry couldn't really do anything drastic until he'd cleared it with the Major. Then, if the Major refused, Harry would do it anyway. He might as well keep hold of his reputation for disobeying orders.

"Major? Could I see you for a second?" Elizabeth asked as she poked her head into the infirmary. Harry waited outside and was soon joined by the both of them. "I want to know what happened out there." She asked before Harry could make a comment.

"The same old thing…" Sheppard trailed off as the three began walking down the corridor.

"Which makes it the fifth time your team has encountered the Wraith in how many missions?" Elizabeth asked.

"Out of nine." Harry butted in before the Major could argue. Harry eyed him and he sighed.

"So, probably not a coincidence." He relented.

"No, Sir." Harry put in. "We have a spy."

"It seems pretty obvious now." Elizabeth sighed before leading the way into the control room.

Harry and Sheppard paused. "I know you want to trust the Athosians sir, but it must be one of them." Harry told him.

"Teyla trusts them all and I trust her." Sheppard pointed out.

"I know she does and I trust her too but that doesn't necessary mean that her trust isn't misplaced." Harry told him bluntly. "You can't trust people just because somebody else trusts them."

"I know, damnit, Captain!" Sheppard almost shouted but softened his voice as he drew the attention of a few passing scientists.

Harry frowned at him. "Have you ever had somebody betray you, Sir?"

"I had an informant send me into a trap once." Sheppard sighed.

"My best friend at my boarding school turned his back on me when I was expelled." Harry told him. "You can't trust anybody that hasn't put their life on the line for you."

They walked up to the control room in silence before Sheppard turned to him in surprise. "You were expelled?" Harry nodded. "What for?"

"The boarding school I went to before I was fourteen was, uh, rather selective." Harry settled on after a moments hesitation that he was sure that the Major didn't miss. "After an incident in my fourth year there I no longer fit their elitist expectations."

"Elitist expectations, why don't I like the sound of that?" Sheppard asked. "Was it your fault?"

Harry paused for a moment before he came to a stop as he pondered telling an outright lie about some accident involving other students or telling a vague truth. He settled on what his heart wanted. "Myself and another student were kidnapped out of the school."

"What happened?" Sheppard asked half knowing that he didn't want to know.

"The other boy was murdered and I was tortured." Harry told him. "It wasn't really torture like I know it now but it still wasn't pleasant for a fourteen year old. I managed to escape but the people at my school couldn't accept me after that and they expelled me."

"That's harsh." Sheppard managed after a moments shock.

"I'm glad they did now though. I wouldn't have joined the Air Force if I'd stayed there." Harry told him.

"Well in that case, I'm glad they expelled you. Because I'm glad you're here too." Sheppard told him. Harry just raised an eyebrow at him before leading the way through to the control room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

After a rather intense meeting where Harry had to come to the rescue of Sergeant Bates after he made rather radical suggestions that Major Sheppard didn't like. The ideas were right but they wouldn't do their political relationship with the Athosians any good. Harry managed to compromise by asking for one on one meetings between Elizabeth and each Athosian and to have the Athosians restricted in their abilities to access vital areas like generator rooms and the gate controls.

From there things went from bad to worse as Harry had to mediate several arguments between the Marines and Athosians who weren't happy with their treatment. All he could think was that he'd take a skirmish with the Wraith over this any day. It was therefore a relief when Rodney ran up to him to report that they discovered, and by discovered he meant stumbled upon, a way to open the roof of the Jumper Bay and that Major Sheppard was planning on taking one of them to check out the planet.

Harry sidetracked to find Elizabeth in her office to tell her that he wanted to take one out too, using the fact he was a jet pilot at heart as leverage. She just graced him with a smile and gave him her blessing. Relieved to be able to escape the political battles of a city-under-suspicion he headed for the Jumper Bay to wait out Major Sheppard.

He didn't have to wait long as he sat on the open ramp of Jumper Two. Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford walked into the room and came up short when they saw him. "Captain, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I'd actually let you go flying around without me did you?" Harry chuckled. "I hate to be the one to point this out to you, Major, but I _am_ the fighter pilot here, so you really should have come to me first when experimenting with high speed craft especially inside the atmosphere of a planet."

"Good point." Sheppard agreed. "I suppose you want the pilot's seat then."

Harry eyed Ford who looked rather dejected at the idea of being left behind. "Not your pilot seat." Harry told him. "I'd rather take out this little baby." Harry patted the ramp he still sat on. "You two wannabes can take out Jumper three."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow at him at him. "We're just going to do a low orbit of the planet, you know."

"Hey, I'd take ferrying senators in an airbus over this city right now." Harry told him bluntly. "Come on. I'll let you go out first and everything."

"How kind of you." Sheppard rolled his eyes and Harry sprung up with a grin on his face.

Harry jumped back into the Puddle Jumper, as Sheppard had named it, and went straight for the pilot's seat and powered it up. He took the two control joists in his hands and tilted the left one back slightly to gain a few inches in altitude. He tipped them both carefully and the ship spun laterally to point in the opposite direction. The automatic guidance prevented the ship from leaning in either direction and Harry couldn't help but feel disappointed. The ships were cool and everything but they weren't as responsive or fast as the Vipers and they took a lot of the fun out of the ride.

__

"Flight, this is Jumper Three, we are go for bay launch." Sheppard's voice spoke as the Jumper opposite Harry backed out of it's bay and into the centre of the room before turning to face the right side. Obviously Sheppard wasn't entirely sure that he could have turned it in the small alcoves like Harry had. _"Jumper two, are you go?"_

Harry let a grin spread across his face as he tapped the Jumper's communications systems. "Jumper two ready to go. Actually I was getting kinda bored waiting for you to back out of that alcove. What are you driving? A Galaxy?" Harry asked referring to the large transport aircraft that the military used.

__

"Very funny, Captain." Sheppard deadpanned. _"Control?"_

"Jumpers Two and Three you are good to go." Harry chuckled as he heard the amusement in Peter Grodin's voice. Jumper Three began to rise steadily from the room and through the open skylight. Harry followed as soon as he was clear of the hatch and fell into place on Sheppard's wing.

He tapped the controls again. "I miss G's." He said rather bluntly. Even with the immense inertial dampeners in the Vipers that kept them alive they still felt tight turns and fast acceleration. This things inertial dampeners meant that he could get up and walk around if he wanted to. It confused things when you couldn't feel if you were going up or down, were upside down or in free-fall.

__

"I know what you mean." Sheppard told him. Harry thought hard about the inertial dampeners but the screen told him he was out of luck in his wishes to lower them slightly but he did find something that he could do. He mentally ordered the Jumper to shut off the automated levelling system and pulled level with the Sheppard as they shot across the water. As soon as Sheppard could see him he did a high speed barrel roll. _"I didn't know these things could do that, Captain."_

"They can if you shut down the levelling systems." Harry grinned as he rolled the ship doing a gentle loop. "It feels more right but I still cant feel it. I wonder if there's some sort of way to lower the inertial dampeners."

__

"I'm not quite as much of a G-junky as you are, Captain." Sheppard retorted. _"Plus I don't want Ford here throwing up on me."_

"I am not going to throw up!" Ford indignantly joined the conversation.

__

"You looked rather green when I explained the effect of high Gs on a person." Harry laughed at the poor Lieutenant but came to his rescue anyway.

"I'm sure some of the Viper Flight's manoeuvres would empty your stomach too, Major." Harry told him.

__

"I doubt that, but then again I'm not a jet fighter pilot." Sheppard told him. _"High precision flying is my forte."_

"Hey! The Viper's can fly precisely!" Harry became defensive but only got a laugh from him. "Be quiet, Sir. I want to try to find a way to lower the inertial dampeners."

__

"Jumper Two, this is control." Grodin's irritated voice came over the speakers. _"Doctor McKay would like me to inform you that playing with the ships operating functions would not be a good idea at this time."_

"That is not what I said." There was a brief scuffle on the other end as Rodney's voice came over the speaker. _"I said I'd wring his neck if he tampers with that Jumper. It's a highly advanced spacecraft and I don't need some jumped up military goon breaking it 'cause it will be me that'll have to fix it."_

"You…wring _my_ neck?" Harry asked speculatively.

__

"Captain Potter, please don't tamper with the ships systems until you land." Elizabeth told him calmly.

__

"You've been told." Harry could almost hear the smirk in Sheppard's voice. _"Let's go for a low orbital. Lead the way, Captain."_

Harry grinned and barrel rolled coming out half way through to angle up at the sky. He pushed the engines and in seconds they were floating in a low orbit. "Not as interesting as looking down at Earth."

__

"You've been in space before around Earth?" Sheppard asked.

"Uh…yeah. I was stationed on the _Nimitz_ before her task force was taken out by Goa'uld Ha'tak. It wasn't a pleasant scene." Harry told him earnestly. "After we joined in on the Antarctic fighting we boarded the _Prometheus_ in space. Of course we'd done orbital docking dozens of times before that."

__

"Fun. Are the Viper's good in a fight?" Sheppard asked him in genuine curiosity.

"We took out thirty-six Al'kesh and Death Gliders between the four of us in a five minute dogfight." Harry told him smugly. "That might be a record. I'll have to look it up."

Harry listened as Sheppard reported in on their position and that they'd cut long range communication and the two switched to normal radios so they didn't have every word spoken to each other monitored by Atlantis.

__

"You know, we still haven't named the planet yet." Ford told them over an open radio link to include Harry in their conversation.

__

"I'm sure the Ancients had a name for it." Sheppard pointed out.

__

"How about Atlantica or something like that?" Ford asked.

Harry heard Sheppard groan. "That just sucks, Lieutenant."

__

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to name anything anymore?" Sheppard asked rather sarcastically.

__

"Sir, is that land?" Ford suddenly asked.

Harry rolled his ship so that his view screen could easily see the mass of green just creeping over the horizon. A HUD sprung up to tell him about it as he wondered its size just as Sheppard asked the same question if their words were anything to go by.

Harry stared at it for a moment before tapping the communications button to link it with Atlantis. "Control, this is Jumper Two, we are feet dry, I repeat, feet dry in five minutes."

__

"Feet dry? Are you serious!?" McKay blurted.

__

"Jumpers, continue your trip and report everything when you get back." Elizabeth told him. Harry acknowledged it before setting the Jumper back on course for the hour long trip at lower speeds than necessary.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

It came as a bit of a shock to Harry, who couldn't imagine giving up his own freedom, when the Athosians requested the chance the spread out on the continent to supplement the city's food supply and to have the chance to return to the environment they were so used to. Harry didn't understand the decision since, after Hogwarts, he didn't like the idea of being trapped, and the Athosians were now cut off from the Stargate.

The thing that bothered Harry was that all of the Athosians went peacefully. They all agreed to cut themselves off from the Stargate and none of them dragged their feet or argued about the decision. All the time that Harry spent shuttling the Athosians back and forward he used to study the eight passengers for signs of discontent and also to teach the few Marines with the Ancient gene to fly the ships and then even took Carson Beckett out to try to teach him.

He found Elizabeth and Major Sheppard in the formers office discussing the destination of their next mission. "All of the Athosians baring Teyla are settling in on the mainland. I've left Sergeant Markham and Jumper four with them for the time being in case they run into anything nasty but I scouted the area with Jumper three and it's scans didn't come up with anything too bad."

"That's good news. Thank you, Harry." Elizabeth smiled at him before noticing his dubious expression. "Is there something wrong?"

"Uh…am I interrupting anything important?" Harry asked Elizabeth but glanced at his superior officer.

"We were just discussing our first destination now that the Athosians are on the mainland." Sheppard told him. "What's the matter?"

"It's just that none of the Athosians acted out about having to go to the continent. There was no arguing against the decision, no hesitance." Harry told them. "If one of them was working for the Wraith then they would have tried something at least."

"So you don't think it was a spy among the Athosians?" Sheppard asked. "I thought it was you that suggested it in the first place."

"With all due cause, Sir." Harry almost snapped. "I admit I seem to be wrong now but you both agreed with the cautions."

"So if none of the Athosians are the spy then why did we keep running into the Wraith?" Elizabeth asked not questioning Harry's decision.

Harry sighed and glanced out at the window. "Four options." He said eventually. "We overplayed the situation and it was just a coincidence."

"I doubt that." Sheppard put in. Elizabeth and Harry nodded.

"The Spy is one of our own expedition." Harry barely paused as the two disagreed with him. "It is an Athosian but not one of the ones I just ferried over to the mainland."

"You can't possibly think it is Teyla!" Major Sheppard turned on him in an instant.

"I'm just stating facts, Sir." Harry commented without breaking his tone.

"But what do you think?" Elizabeth asked before Sheppard could argue further.

"Her hate for the Wraith is clear, I don't think she'd ever aid the Wraith willingly." Harry said simply and watched as Major Sheppard's hostile expression relax in acceptance and maybe a little relief that he wouldn't have to argue with Harry any further.

"Wait," Sheppard frowned. "You said four things?"

"Someone, or something, might be reporting our destinations unknowingly." Harry told them. "Some sort of tracer but I don't see how."

"What do you think, Major?" Elizabeth asked.

"I like that last option over the others." He said simply.

"I agree, but I don't see what we can do about it other then continue through the Stargate and see what happens." Elizabeth relented.

"That doesn't sound safe." Harry pointed out.

"We don't have much of a choice." Major Sheppard pointed out.

"All the same, until its clear what is happening I want Harry to join your team on your missions but to stay out of sight." Elizabeth told them. "Will that be possible?"

"Easily." Harry nodded. "When do we move out?"

"Twenty hundred hours." Sheppard told him.

"Perhaps I could do something to cut away the other, more sinister options." Harry said just before he left. "Let me go through now, that way I can get into position before you come through."

"You mean do it so nobody else knows you went through?" Sheppard asked in understanding.

"I don't like tricking my own people." Elizabeth frowned not as used to thinking like Black Ops. Soldiers did.

"It would give Captain Potter a distinct advantage if something that we're doing is triggering the Wraith assaults. He's not a common denominator with the attacks so his arrival can't be the cause." Harry and Elizabeth both looked at the Major in surprise for a moment. "What? It's called tactical training."

Harry felt the edges of his lips twitch before covering it with his normal expressionless mask though he thought that they both noticed. "So, can I?" Harry asked.

"Ok." Elizabeth relented in the end as both of her senior military advisors waited patiently. "We'll pretend to send you as a representative to a planet we've already been to. Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?"

"I can be ready in five but thanks for the consideration." Harry smirked at her before turning to head for the armoury to pick up a P-90, handgun, M40A3 Sniper and several other pieces of equipment including range finders and infrared glasses. He then went to the supply store and filled his bag with several days worth of Ready-To-Eat-Meals and water in small squirt bottles. He headed straight for the control room where he found Elizabeth waiting patiently beside Rodney on the dialling computer running a diagnostic.

Elizabeth greeted Harry with a smile and Rodney glanced up at them, taking in Harry's kitted out person. "Dial up P3X-087 please Rodney." Elizabeth told Rodney coming to stand at his shoulder. She handed him a slip of paper so that the three other techs in the control room didn't see it. Rodney frowned but to his credit he began dialling the 'wrong' address without hesitation. If he noticed it was the same as the next address he himself was due to go to he didn't mention it. Harry mock saluted Elizabeth before turning back down the stairs and down to the Gateroom proper.

He smirked in appreciation as he saw Sheppard talking to the four man guard, successfully distracting them from the Gate as it lit up. If asked they wouldn't know where Harry went. The gate opened and Harry lifted his P-90, switched off the safety and with a brief nod at the watching Major and Marines he disappeared through the Event Horizon.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Off world

Harry knew that he had almost three hours before Sheppard brought his extended team through the gate for their actual exploratory mission so he spent the time doing a loose circuit of the area to scope for Wraith activity. By the time he had finished his sweep of the large flood plain he determined one fact; The Wraith hadn't been there in a long time. At least that's what all the clues led to. There was an indigenous population though they didn't show themselves to him and he purposely kept an eye out for them so that they didn't see him.

All the same, the only foot prints in the area weren't Wraith so he was safe for the time being. He found himself a perch to wait out the final fifteen minutes half was up a tree that overlooked the large clearing with the Stargate pronounced in the centre surrounded by broken ruins. He clipped his harness around the tree and crouched on a large branch letting the harness take his weight to keep him in place. It was the only way that he could fire a Sniper Rifle without losing his balance. He drank some of his water and ate a ready to eat meal while he waited.

The Stargate came to life exactly on time and Harry pulled his long range goggles from his vest pocket and focused them on the Gate just as the first person stepped through. Sergeant Stackhouse's reconnaissance team came through first followed by Major Sheppard, Rodney, Teyla and Ford. The whole group looked around at the surrounding area critically apart from Rodney and the Anthropologist from Stackhouse's team who were clueless of any real danger on these missions.

Harry made a mental note to have a word with the Marines, only Stackhouse checked the skies for dangers and none of them looked at the trees for lurking threats like Harry. Not that he was a threat to them but the point was still the same. Major Sheppard of course studied every tree around them and eventually settled on staring at Harry's own tree since it probably would have been his choice of 'camp' positions as well. Harry doubted, however, that Sheppard could actually see him though since Harry was rather close to the trunk and almost a mile away.

Harry watched patiently as the team spread out. Stackhouse's Anthropologist started working with Rodney around the Ruins as the rest of the team spread out to survey the tree line. After a few moments Ford and Teyla moved off into the tree line out of Harry's sight and he tried to focus on them in vain. He growled at Sheppard even if it wasn't really the man's fault.

Sheppard kept his position watching over the two scientists as they lost all sense of being on a possibly hostile planet. Harry just lingered to sweeping the area every few minutes but watching the main path that seemed to cut into the forest more often. It wasn't until after an hour of waiting that anything happened. A movement in the underbrush of the tree line grabbed Harry's attention and he instantly swung up his M40 and used the scope to see the Wraith soldiers closing in from all around them. He slipped off the safety and resifted his weight before taking aim.

"Wraith!" Sheppard's shout carried across the clearing just before the Wraith fired their stunners across the ruins. Stackhouse's team grabbed Rodney and the other scientist and threw them towards the Stargate.

Harry took aim and fired two shots into the head of a Wraith approaching quietly from the far side of the clearing. Sheppard nervously sighted in Harry's direction out of habit but then realised what was happening and turned back to firing shots into the rapidly approaching Wraith soldiers.

__

"Major!" Ford's voice came across the radio that Harry had in his ear. _"What's the situation?"_

"Lieutenant, we're taking fire." Was Sheppard's response. _"You're going to have to zoom around to get back to the Gate."_

"Teyla's not with me, she went to get…" His voice trailed off even as Harry shot another Wraith twice in the head which seemed to be the only thing that kept them down permanently.

__

"Find her, get her back." Harry frowned. Even assuming that Teyla had split from Lieutenant Ford almost instantly, Harry didn't think it was plausible for her to have gotten far enough away to contact the Wraith in time for them to arrive in only an hour. Somehow they had realised that they were there without anybody telling them.

Harry watched from his perch as they all backed towards the Gate and actually growled as one of the Wraith that he had shot got back up and managed to fire off a shot before Harry shot him in the head again, probably for the final time. Harry's eyes narrowed as the stun blast hit Sheppard square on sending him to the ground. Stackhouse and one of a Corporal grabbed him under the arms and dragged him through the Stargate even as the others poured through it to the safety of Atlantis.

The Stargate shut down and Harry relaxed as the Wraith came up with a snap as their prey successfully escaped. Harry however tensed up again remembering that Ford and Teyla were somewhere out there and with a malicious smile on his face he wiped out the remaining ten Wraith in the clearing regretting it when three managed to escape into the forest.

__

"Unknown shooter, if you can hear this then please respond." Harry recognised Ford's voice but didn't respond immediately wondering whether he wanted to give away what he was doing there. If Teyla was the spy then it would only tell her that they suspected her and she was now alone with Ford. _"This is Lieutenant Ford and Teyla Emmagan. We're peaceful explorers, and if you can hear this we only wish to talk."_

So Teyla was there. Harry focused his scope across the tree line just where the two had disappeared and sure enough he could just about make out Ford hidden just behind the bushes with Teyla crouched behind him watching the trees there. Harry watched her for a moment remembering how adamant Major Sheppard was about Teyla's innocent. He hadn't seen anything in her character to suggest that she was anything but a friend to them but then again he hadn't seen those signs in his own friends at Hogwarts either but he had grown up since then of course.

He trusted Sheppard's judgement, he was a good man and if Harry was going to trust anyone as much as he did Jessica and the way he had trusted Michael's logic and common sense then it would be Sheppard. No, he'd go out on a limb and trust Sheppard's instincts in this.

He pressed his ear piece. "Lieutenant Ford, this is Captain Potter. I can see you, get to the Stargate and watch your six. There are still at least three Wraith soldiers out there."

"Captain!" Ford gasped. _"I thought you were on another mission. What are you doing here?"_

"Just get through the Stargate, Lieutenant." Harry told him. "That's an order."

__

"Yes Sir." Ford asked before edging out of the trees.

Harry scoped out the area. "Go now, Ford!"

Ford and Teyla crept from the trees before dashing across the clearing to the Stargate. Three Wraith instantly appeared from trees opposite Harry's position. "Wraith at four o'clock!"

Ford turned to glance at them without breaking stride just as all three shot at him. He dove to the side just as Harry shot the three Wraith but all three managed to get away to the trees with only minor injuries. The Stargate burst open and Harry redirected his attention to the dialling device to see Teyla pulling Ford up the steps to the Gate. He was unconscious, possibly from his evasive leap.

__

"This is Teyla, Lieutenant Ford has been wounded." Teyla spoke through the radio after not receiving the go ahead on her wrist device. _"The Wraith are closing in."_

She was right on the last bit. Harry could see a large ship rising from the horizon. He stared at it for a moment before turning his attention back onto the gate. _"Atlantis, please let us through!"_

"Lieutenant Ford?" Elizabeth spoke up. _"Can you confirm the situation?"_

"He is unconscious, our situation grows desperate." Harry glanced at the sky and the rapidly growing Wraith ship. It was quite the sight really. Elegant curves, silent at this range but it screamed danger far more than the _Prometheus _ever had. She was definitely right about the situation growing desperate. _"Soon we will have no choice but to go through the Stargate!"_

Harry sighed imagining Sheppard on the other side of the gate arguing with everyone else to get the shield dropped and probably hoping that Harry would step in at some point. Harry decided to do just that. He pulled up his sleeve to reveal his IDC and punched in the activation code that would trigger the stream of information that the computers on Atlantis would recognise as his own code.

__

"Teyla, you're cleared, get through the Gate!" Sheppard ordered urgently and Teyla didn't even hesitate before stepping through. Harry glanced down at his IDC to see that the little yellow light was on. It had three lights in a rather disappointing red, yellow and green. The red went on as soon as the ID was sent and the green signalled that permission had been given for them to go through. The yellow did numerous things depending on how it flashed but steadily on meant that it was receiving a hold signal that was designed to hold the Gate open with a stream of radio signal.

There was no way he could get out of his tree and to the Gate before the Wraith Cruiser arrived and with this constant signal it would be easy for the Wraith to find him if they bothered to look for signals like that. He hit the cancel button on the IDC and all the lights went out as the signal was cut off and the Stargate powered down with nothing else to do.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Atlantis, an hour later

Harry stepped through the event horizon and instantly handed the M40-A3 weapon to one of the Corporals guarding the Gateroom. He sighed and headed for where Elizabeth and Major Sheppard were rapidly walking down the stairs towards him with anxious looks on their faces. Harry raised an eyebrow at the two of them easily seeing that they'd just been having an argument of some sort.

"You know, I'm gone for five hours and you two start bickering." Harry shook his head resignedly. "What is a man to do?"

"What the hell happened?" Sheppard demanded.

"Well, the Wraith arrived." Harry spoke slowly. "Maybe that stunner blast you took did more damage then normal."

"Pipe down, Captain." Sheppard snapped and Harry gazed at him stoically. Obviously this wasn't the time for humour.

"I cleared the area of Wraith after you left." Harry's voice was cold and crisp, only revealing the necessary details. He ignored the look of regret that spread across Sheppard face at forcing such a change. Elizabeth blanched slightly. "Ford and Teyla saw it and contacted me to find out who I was. I decided to trust _your_ judgment, Major, and contacted them."

Sheppard actually flinched at Harry's jab but Harry continued relentlessly. "I covered their break for the Stargate but Ford got injured somehow. The Wraith Cruiser was too close by the time you let them through for me to come through and the hold signal would have only led them to where I was camped. I dialled the Gate as soon as the Wraith took off into space."

"So, what of your mission?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Harry thought about making a jab at her too but decided that neither were in the mood for his lame jokes. He met her gaze steadily. "Unless Teyla has grown the ability to teleport herself I doubt she would have been able to signal the Wraith in any way before returning. But the Wraith did know we were there. That Cruiser wasn't interested in anything else on the planet."

Harry turned towards the side door intending to check on the others, especially Ford who had obviously been injured. Sheppard caught up with him quickly. "I'm sorry about what I said. I'm just a bit wound up." Sheppard told him. "Bates locked Teyla in her quarters."

Harry eyed him for a moment. "Did you tell him that it was my IDC that lowered the shield?" Sheppard shook his head. "Then you can't expect him to do anything else, Major. He's just trying to protect the base."

"Perhaps." Sheppard conceded. "Thanks for your help out there. It's appreciated."

Harry paused to look at him with yet again cold eyes. "I was just doing my job, Major." Harry told him. "But you still got shot."

"Because I didn't bother to check that one of them was actually dead before I turned away from it." Sheppard countered. "Nothing you could have done."

"Let's go see Ford."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Infirmary

"We watched Captain Potter kill all of the Wraith that hung around and contacted him to make sure that he didn't decide to kill us too when we went for the Gate." Ford told them. "He was really good, Sir. We ran for the gate and these three Wraith appeared out of nowhere. Captain Potter shot them all before I hit the ground."

"Not just a fly-boy now am I, Lieutenant?" Harry smirked as Ford blushed red.

"I was shot at from behind," Ford continued. "She saved my life back there, Major."

"We know she did." Harry told him. "I'm going to release her from her captivity as soon as we get done here."

Rodney walked into the room and broke off his greeting when he saw Ford. "Oh, Ford, how are you doing?" He asked. "Pins and Needles all over?"

"Oh yeah, join the club." Sheppard said. Harry shook his head and met Ford's eyes with a small grin. He knew that he hadn't been hit by the Stunner blast, how he had been knocked unconscious wasn't exactly clear to him.

"No, Sir." Ford turned to Sheppard. "I managed to dive out of the way of the stun blast. I must have hit my head on the way down."

"You hit your head?" Sheppard asked shocked.

"Major, Captain, I need to show you both something." Rodney interrupted. Sheppard nodded and began to follow him from the room. Harry sent a reassuring smile to the Lieutenant.

"I'll be fine." Ford told him making Harry turn and dart after the two retreating men.

He followed them to Rodney's lab and eyed the pile of clothing and personal effects that screamed Teyla to him. "What the hell is this?" Sheppard frowned at Rodney as he recognised the same thing.

"I know how it looks, it was a special request from Sergeant Bates." Rodney defended himself.

"I'm gonna bust that son of a bitch." Sheppard snarled.

"Easy, Major. He's just doing his job." Harry told him and was rewarded as Sheppard turned his glare on Harry.

"Teyla has nothing to do with this!" Sheppard snarled. "You vouched for her yourself on the planet."

"I said she wasn't reporting us willingly, I didn't say anything about involuntarily." Harry said turning his cold stare on Rodney gesturing pointedly to her stuff. "What did you find?"

"You were right." Rodney told him and Sheppard shut up in his complaints as he stared in horror at the scientist. "I know, I was as surprised as you. Look at this." He walked over to the computer screen that showed the locket that Teyla normally wore. "It's her locket. It's a transmitter and it's been broadcasting a continuous signal. I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't been looking for it specifically."

"I found it." Sheppard suddenly spoke up in horror.

"What?" Harry turned on him.

"Back on the planet the first time we met." He told them both. "Teyla took me to the old ruins. It was buried in dirt. I gave it to her."

"Well that proves her innocence." Harry said resolutely. "Major, might I suggest that you and the Doctor go and inform Elizabeth while I go and speak to Teyla."

"Yes." Sheppard nodded firmly. "I'm sure she's confused."

"In this place?" Harry chuckled. "Aren't we all?"

Harry left the room quickly heading directly for his rooms so that he could change out of rather bedraggled uniform into a fresh set. He loaded up with his thigh pouches. His left pouch simply held one of his Sai whereas the right one had been made a week ago so that it could hold his other Sai closest to his leg with his 9mm pistol on the outside. The Sai were almost invisible where they were unless you knew to look for them.

He went straight from his rooms to Teyla's rooms on the other side of his floor and strolled right up to the two Corporals on duty. "Corporals." Harry greeted and they snapped to attention.

"Captain Potter?" Corporal Brackon queried.

"Stand down, Corporals." Harry told them. "Teyla is no longer under close arrest."

"Sir?" Corporal Synder frowned. "Sergeant Bates ordered us to keep her in this room until he says otherwise."

Harry took a step forwards into their personal space and stared at them both with cold eyes. "Since when does a Sergeant's orders trump a Captain's?" Harry watched them fidget nervously. "I am giving you a direct order to stand down. Are you going to do what I say or do I have to have you both court martialled and locked in the brig?"

"No, Sir." Both men took a side step to clear the way to the door and saluted him.

"Better, _Corporals_." Harry emphasized the last word before gesturing a dismissal to them both. The two trained US Marines fled from the corridor and Harry had to stem a chuckle at the image. He knocked and a few seconds later a wary looking Teyla opened the door for him.

"Captain Potter?" She frowned.

"Good afternoon, Teyla. I'm here to conduct your official breakout." Harry told her with a straight face.

"I don't understand." She told him with a confused look.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

She looked surprised. "Of course, please come in." She stepped to the side and Harry walked in.

"I'd like to start by apologising for spying on you." Harry started.

"So you were off world to watch me?" She asked.

"It was the only way we could unequivocally prove you innocent. Neither myself, Elizabeth nor the Major believed that you would willingly betray us, especially not to the Wraith." Harry told her.

"You lowered the shield?" She asked in realisation.

"There was a Wraith Cruiser on the way." Harry shrugged. "I'm sure they would have eventually anyway. I heard that Major Sheppard was getting rather angry with the control room staff."

"I can imagine." She told him.

"As I said, I am sorry for how you have been treated but I want to make sure you understand Sergeant Bates' suspicion." He told her. She watched him carefully. "He has a lot of responsibility here and I know from experience that sometimes you have to do things that make enemies of potential friends to do what is better for the many. Does that make sense?"

"I understand." She nodded. "How have things changed? Where are Corporal Synder and Brackon?"

"As I said, you're no longer under arrest." Harry told her. "Do you remember the small locket that you normally wear?"

"The one I lost when I was younger and that Major Sheppard found?" She asked.

"That's the one." Harry nodded. "Rodney found out that it is a Wraith transmitter. I've had a think about it and it makes sense. Assuming that you weren't constantly chased by the Wraith when you were younger I would guess that it activated when the Major touched it and it's some sort of tracking device to warn the Wraith of any Ancients it detects."

"And Major Sheppard has the Ancient gene." She concluded.

"As do I." Harry told her.

"So I've been wearing a Wraith locator beacon?" She said in horror.

"You couldn't have known." Harry assured her.

__

"Captain Potter, Control Room." Grodin's voice came through.

Harry looked at Teyla with a resigned look that made her grin at him. "Potter here. What's the matter?"

__

"Major Sheppard is taking a team through the Gate and wants Teyla with him for it." Grodin told him.

"And me?" Harry asked. There was a rather stagnant pause so Harry overrode it. "She'll be there in five minutes after a stop in the armoury for her weapons."

He smiled at Teyla and she nodded to show she was ready.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Two hours later

Harry leant on the small bridge that joined the control room to Elizabeth's office with his elbows on the railing. Elizabeth joined him with a sigh. "You're a patient one." She told him.

"I've waited longer than this on missions." He told her. "I want to be here in case something goes wrong."

He had been standing there ever since Sheppard and his team, including Teyla, had gone through the gate with the transmitter in an attempt to capture a living Wraith Soldier for interrogation. "I'm sorry I wouldn't let you go."

"I know you are, and I understand." He told her without looking at her. "I'm not necessary for an ambush and its an unnecessary risk. Especially since a lot of the Marines aren't happy with you or the Major at the moment for not listening to them."

"I didn't notice that." She said with a frown.

"Why do you think the Marines you sent through the Gate were looking for reasons for why I wasn't going through?" Harry asked her.

"I didn't notice." She frowned in self derision.

"Don't worry, I'm used to having to see hidden attitudes behind expressionless faces." Harry told her leaking another small part of his old life to her.

The Stargate came to life then interrupting any other questions. Elizabeth walked quickly into the Control Room but Harry didn't see the need since he could hear everything going on in there easily enough.

"I have Major Sheppard's IDC. They have a captive, unconscious." Grodin was saying. "No casualties."

Harry relaxed imperceptibly but still didn't breathe properly until every member of the team came back through the gate. He felt himself relax properly only when he saw Major Sheppard walk through the gate bringing up the rear of the group.

He blinked in confusion. '_Wait, why am I so bothered?'_

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	7. Desperation

Cast Between Worlds

A/N; This chapter is reverently dedicated to the wonderful **thewingedwhispered **who gave me so much help on filling in the plot, working out the details and so on. A very wonderful person. Without her help it would have been another month before I could plan this out and write it. You all have to read and review her new HP/SGA crossover, I'm betaing it when I can and it's awesome.

Chapter 7; Desperation

**Atlantis - Training Room**

Harry leaned backwards deftly letting Sheppard's strike pass uselessly over his upturned face. He was ready for Sheppard's move even though he was shocked at his senior officer's foresight. He had hoped that Harry would avoid the strike like this so he could overbalance him. Harry dropped backwards onto his hands and flipped his feet over his body in a backwards flip that took his legs away from Sheppard's low swipe. Harry darted forwards as Sheppard straightened again and struck him three times with his Rattan sticks. Sheppard blocked the first two as was expected but the third was a tricky swipe aimed at his hip that was hard to block after Harry forced his own arms to his right leaving it open for his strike.

Sheppard winced as his hip went dead and Harry backed off before flashing the man a grin. "Good."

"You are coming along well, Major Sheppard." Teyla spoke as she came across the practice mat from where she had been drilling two Athosian teenagers in basic unarmed combat.

"He didn't even have to try!" Sheppard half glared at Harry.

"You haven't been doing this for ten years like I have." Harry told him simply with a respectful nod at Teyla before slipping off of the mat and to his gear. He pulled on his socks and boots and then clipped his Sai pouches to his legs and pulled his jacket and combat vest over the top. They had a mission in an hour and he wanted to check on the city explorers before they set out and make sure that Lieutenant Miller had his orders and was happy with what needed to be done in his, Major Sheppard's and Lieutenant Ford's absence.

It was almost an hour later when Harry walked into the control room fully kitted out. He had his supplies in his backpack along with his M40A3 Sniper over his back as he always did and a P-90 strapped to the front of his vest. Elizabeth smiled at him as he arrived and he nodded back simply.

"You ready to go?" She asked. He nodded. "The planet is rather inhabited. Buildings within twenty metres of the gate and people clustered to see the M.A.L.P."

"Hostile?"

"Does it matter to you?" Elizabeth teased. Harry eyed her but the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. He knew she'd seen it so he simply smirked at her.

"Not really." He admitted without regret.

Sheppard entered behind him and Harry nodded respectfully. "We're ready to go through, Elizabeth. Just give the word."

"Good luck and be careful." Elizabeth held their gazes and Harry mock saluted her as Sheppard braced and snapped out an affirmative. They looked at each other in surprise and Harry could have sworn that Sheppard was surprised at Harry's humour. Elizabeth laughed at them and shooed them away.

"I don't know who is rubbing off on who here, Captain." Major Sheppard muttered to him as they walked down the stairs to join Teyla, Ford and Rodney on the lower floor. Harry levelled the older man a look that betrayed nothing but simply shrugged.

"I think it's the place more than anything." Harry admitted.

"I know, I like it here." Sheppard admitted.

"I could find myself liking it too." Harry admitted as they joined the others.

"What are you talking about?" Rodney asked him.

"About coming to like this place." Harry told him.

"You have to be kidding!" Rodney gasped. "This place is amazing, technology beyond our wildest dreams, the largest leap in understanding the universe."

"Doc!" Ford snapped. "They're talking about actually liking being here. Trapped in another Galaxy with no way home."

"Oh." Rodney frowned as if the thought hadn't even occurred to him.

"Captain?" Ford asked as they waited for the Stargate to spin up. "What do you regret the most about coming here?"

Harry looked at him for a moment as he seemed to brace himself for a tongue lashing from his senior officer. He'd asked Sheppard the same question the last mission they went on together but only seemed to have gotten the courage to ask Harry now. Harry took pity on him and decided to answer truthfully. "Missing my best friend's wedding." Harry said simply.

Ford's eyes widened in surprise and Harry saw Sheppard twitch slightly in surprise that Harry had given something personal away. "I didn't know you had friends, Captain." Rodney said.

"Doctor McKay!" Teyla gasped in horror. "How could you say such a thing?"

"I…I…" Rodney stammered as he backed away from her.

Harry chuckled and pulled up his P-90 and cocked it loudly. "It's ok Teyla. I only have the one."

"The one what? Friend?" Rodney looked surprised.

"Well, its hard to make friends when all you do is assassinate people, Doctor McKay." Harry smirked at him as Rodney tried to work out if he was serious or not.

"Enough, Captain." Sheppard muttered though his tone was amused. "Let's get going."

Harry took point and walked through the Gate with Teyla just behind him. He knew that Sheppard would come through next with Rodney and then Ford would bring up the rear. When he came out into the bright light of their target planet he found himself looking down his P-90 at a large group of men, most of which seemed to be armed with single shot rifles.

"Friends." Teyla said in greeting as she lowered her own weapon and took a step passed Harry just as their whole group arrived. "I am Teyla Emmagan. We are all peaceful explorers searching only for friendship and trade."

Harry eyed them carefully as Sheppard walked up beside him. A larger man stepped towards them. He had greying hair and a rather pleasant expression on his face. "It is obvious that you are not Wraith and any other is welcome here." He gestured expansively and only after all of the other men had lowered their weapons did Harry follow suit though his finger never left the vicinity of the trigger and he didn't turn on the safety. Nor did Sheppard he noticed. "Welcome to Hoff."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Four hours later**

The Hoff people had turned out to be friendly people and even Harry's untrusting nature had backed off ever so slightly. He still preferred to stand by the window to the room over sitting at the table with the others but he did so more for his own peace of mind then any real desire to protect himself. The Hoff people seemed to be technologically level with Europe of the late 1920's but they were a determined race of people choosing to adapt and build between cullings regardless of the risk of attracting the Wraith to them.

The group at the table were enjoying a round of chatter to get to know each other but apart from Major Sheppard introducing Harry to the Hoff Prime Minister very little was said about him and the Minister seemed happy to let Harry fall out of the conversation and be viewed as a body guard like the three armed Hoffs in the room.

His radio came to life and Harry tensed at the same time as the rest of the team. Harry heard the voice of Grodin on the other end and figured that the Gate had activated. "_Major Sheppard, Captain Potter, this is Atlantis Base. Please come in."_

Harry lifted a hand to Sheppard to show that he would deal with it and stepped away from the window to the far side of the room to talk to the man in peace. Sheppard apologised for the interruption and briefly explained the radio microphones on their cheeks to the less advanced race's leader. He'd probably also mute the earpiece. "This is Captain Potter, over?"

"_We have a situation."_ Grodin paused before continuing. "_Doctor Weir wants to see you and Major Sheppard ASAP."_

"Understood Atlantis. Potter Out." Harry turned and walked back to the table and around behind Sheppard. "Sir, Atlantis has a situation, she wants us both back there now."

"Captain? We can't just skip out now."

"Elizabeth wouldn't interrupt us for anything less than life threatening." Harry reminded him. Sheppard glanced around and up at him but nodded.

"Minister." Sheppard turned to the worried looking man. "I'm afraid we've just received word from our Base that a situation has come up. We'll return as soon as possible."

"Oh dear. I do hope it isn't anything too bad." The man frowned in concern as the rest stood up. Rodney was muttering under his breath in irritation and Harry knew that he would have preferred to stay and explore. Teyla offered the man a winning smile and got one in return.

"It is not their way to disregard your kind welcome like this and I assure you that we shall return as soon as we are able." Teyla assured him and he nodded at her. Harry gave her a smirk as they left the room and Harry took off with Ford at a jog towards the Gate so that they could dial as fast as possible.

"Are we all going through?" Ford asked. "I mean, didn't Doctor Weir only ask for you and Major Sheppard?" He'd obviously not pressed the mute on his ear piece like the rest of the team.

"Even though I don't doubt your prowess in a battle, Lieutenant, I am not willing to leave you, Teyla and Rodney on this planet alone." Harry told him.

"Don't you trust the Hoff people, Captain?"

"Lieutenant, I don't trust anybody that I haven't seen in battle personally." Harry chuckled as he began punching in the address for Atlantis. "Is there something wrong with that, Lieutenant?" Harry added as he noticed how quiet the Marine had gone.

"No, Sir." Ford declared and Harry just watched him as the Gate came online with a crisp snap. "It's just you're not that approachable to the men."

Harry eyed him carefully. "I appreciate your honesty Lieutenant but what I lack, Major Sheppard makes up for."

"He is approachable but the men respect your efficiency, Sir." Ford told him.

"I promise you, Lieutenant, that no matter how cold and efficient I am I will always listen to the men." Harry told him as he punched in his IDC. "I just do things differently than the Major and Colonel Sumner."

The green light on his IDC turned green just as the others arrived and together they walked through the Gate.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Ten minutes later**

Harry stood by the window still fully kitted out except his M40A3 was propped up against the floor to ceiling windows of Elizabeth's office. Sheppard sat in the chair opposite the rooms owner.

"So let me get this straight, the medieval inhabitants of P3X-779 have kidnapped and incarcerated our men." Sheppard repeated simply as Elizabeth stopped explaining the situation. Team 2 were now thirty minutes overdue for contact after reporting that their scientist had vanished over night while they had been resting. Elizabeth had ordered them to search the town thoroughly before reporting back in.

"Is it still night there?" Harry asked without turning to look at them. Battle plans were going through his mind as he recalled everything from the original report and his own trip to the planet and town in question when he had accompanied Sergeant Markham and his team through the Gate.

"Should be for the next two hours." Elizabeth frowned in worry and Harry could see it in her reflection in the window.

"I say small scale incursion. Get dropped in by cloaked puddle jumper, find and rescue the team before morning and then get to the gate." Harry told them as he turned to look Sheppard straight in the eyes.

"I agree." Sheppard nodded probably having thought of a similar plan himself especially as a helicopter pilot who would have flown people like himself and Harry into situations identical to this one.

"Is that a good plan?" Weir asked seriously.

"We do it all the time on Earth." Harry shrugged. "And on Earth the helicopters aren't invisible and the defenders have machine guns and grenades."

She nodded in understanding. "How small a team?" She asked Sheppard.

"Two or three." Sheppard suggested.

"I disagree. As it is getting back to the Gate will be difficult with five men let alone eight." Harry shook his head. "Just me."

"What!?" Sheppard almost stood before forcing himself to remain seated.

"I can get them out easier on my own, Sir." Harry held his gaze and saw Sheppard cave in to his idea.

"He's right." Sheppard sighed. "With this sort of mission the fewer the better so it's either me or him. And in all honesty, he's the better at this type of mission."

Harry nodded in gratitude to his senior officer and turned to Elizabeth. "I can be ready in a few minutes after I get kitted out for night recon."

"What if you can't get back to the gate before dawn?" She asked shocking Harry and Sheppard who hadn't expected a logical question.

"Dial the gate in three hours time." Harry told her. "If we cant get out of the town by dawn we'll hole up and you can send Major Sheppard with a puddle jumper to pick us up once I've had a chance to scout out an LZ."

She nodded. "Be careful, Captain."

Harry mock saluted her and walked from the room to get kitted out. A worried looking Ford followed him to the armoury and watched him kit himself out with night scopes for his M40A3 and assorted signalling gear and a rope and descender.

"What's the situation, Captain?" He finally asked on the way up to the Jumper Bay where Lieutenant Miller would be waiting with a Jumper to transport him to the town.

Harry gave him a brief run down of the situation as they walked and Ford listened in silence. "I want to help."

"Then watch Major Sheppard and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble while I'm not there to watch his back." Harry suddenly felt as if his words weren't just a joke but he forced his emotions aside where they belonged on a mission like this.

"I want to come." Ford told him.

"Lieutenant, I'm not asking for volunteers. I'm telling you to look out for the rest while I'm gone." Harry half snapped.

"Actually you said look after Major Sheppard." Ford pointed out. Harry rounded on him with a glare.

"What was that, Lieutenant?" Harry said coldly. Ford shook his head. "Good."

Harry waved to Lieutenant Miller and the man ducked into the Jumper. "Control Room, start dialling the Gate."

Harry offered Ford a small smile as he got on the ramp and saw the need to say something in his eyes. "What is it?"

"Permission to speak?" Harry nodded letting him know that he wouldn't take rank into account. "You act like you don't want to be friends with anyone but you're the first to risk yourself to save people."

"That's just who I am, Lieutenant." Harry told him.

"Well, it's just that some of us here are willing to be your friend. You don't have to be completely selfless." Harry eyed him for a moment but nodded slowly all the same. "Even Major Sheppard."

Harry didn't know what Ford was referring to exactly but he still offered a small smile and hit the ramp controls to shut the back. He didn't bother moving forwards to take the controls but just checked he had everything he needed in his packs. He checked that his radio had a full charge and that his Sai were fastened and properly hidden if he was searched and that his weapons were fully loaded and ready to go.

The Jumper sunk through the hole in the ground and turned to face the Gate. Harry made his way to the front and waved reassuringly at Weir and Sheppard standing to the side. "Ready, Sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant. Let's go." Harry nodded. The ship cloaked and slipped through the wormhole and then as soon as it was on the other side it rose above the trees and slipped soundlessly on the short journey through the night to the town.

As they approached the town and the fires that dotted it Miller spoke up. "Where do you want to land?"

"No landing, just hold steady and I'll drop down." Harry told him. "Let's have a look around from the air first."

Harry concentrated on looking for life signs and to his satisfaction a plan of the town appeared in the air before the window. Miller brought the Jumper to a stand still directly above the town and turned his own attention on the screen as they searched the town carefully for something that would match a holding cell or something. It took a few minutes but Harry finally found a long thin building near the outskirts of town with rooms filled with one or sometimes two people and patrolled by a few other life signs. Harry tapped it to show Miller who nodded his agreement that it was the best bet.

Harry studied it further and noticed that where the building bent in an L-shape the rooms stopped containing occupants until near the end where two cells sat opposite each other with two guards standing between them. Each cell held two but they were moving at all like the others and were on opposite walls. Probably tied up.

"That's my best bet." Harry told him. "Let's go see what it looks like. Nice and slowly, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir." Harry directed them to the building in question. It's small barred windows gave it away as a prison and it's flat roof gave him an advantage he didn't want to pass up.

"Right on top, sir?" Miller asked coming to the same conclusion.

"Definitely, they wont expect an intruder like that since their isn't a higher building near enough." Harry told him. "As soon as I'm down shut the ramp and get back to Atlantis so Doctor Weir has a transport at hand."

"Yes Sir." Miller acknowledged.

Harry turned and headed for the back. With the cloak running he didn't have to worry about dimming lights so instead just hit the ramp release. He saw the ground get closer until it was a mere five foot below. He muttered lowly for Miller to hold at that height and then said a low farewell before twisting and lowering himself from his arms until he was standing on the flat brick roof of the building.

The Jumper had vanished as soon as his head had left the boundaries of the ramp so he kept low so he didn't get accidentally clobbered by the Jumper as it left. He made his way to the far end of the L-shaped building and slipped over the edge and dropped to the grass below it. He fastened his straps carefully so that nothing clattered on his uniform and pulled his right hand Sai from under his pistol and held it ready. A mirror was in his other hand after he fished it out of a side pocket and he used it to check the only two windows on the end of the building.

He wanted to be sure where they were before he tried to storm the building knowing that he'd have to silently kill quite a few guards to get in unnoticed and he didn't want to risk ending up at the wrong cells and having to search. He was rewarded by being able to spot Sergeant Markham chained to one of the walls in one cell and Brendan Gall, one of the scientists on the expedition, in the other. They were both seemingly unharmed but only Sergeant Markham was awake in the middle of the night. Harry predicted two hours till dawn and knew that with speed they could get back to the gate in time as long as he didn't take more than half an hour to break them out.

He made his way around the building to the only entrance and snuck up on the two guards there. He grabbed one from behind with one arm covering his mouth as he shoved his Sai through the neck of the other in a silent killing blow. He let the other struggle until he ran out of oxygen and suffocated. Without feeling even the slightest bit of remorse to these people who had tricked his men in this situation he moved both bodies into the small dark stream that surrounded the building before slipping into the building.

He moved slowly and quietly listening to every sound that betrayed patrols. The air was still and he let his eyes turn black in the darkness to tell him exactly where the patrols were. A team of three were heading his way from the largest room that Harry had decided was a guard room and as they turned to walk out the door he stepped out with both Sai and killed them all within two seconds. He caught the last before he could dropped his torch and he snuffed it out firmly under his boot before pulling the three into the shadows of an unlocked cell. He walked out and through the main corridor but came up short as a footprint caught his eye in the sandy floor. There were a dozen trails all merged together and unreadable but one section of a footprint surprised him.

He pulled out a flashlight and filtered it with the red lens before turning it on and illuminated the footprint. He hissed low under his breath as he recognised the distinctive print of a Wraith boot. At least he now had a reason for the actions of the towns people though he didn't feel any pity for them. They were willingly working with the Wraith for some reason.

He made his way to the corner of the corridor where it turned the corner and used his mirror to look around the corner at the two guards standing stoically at the end. He gritted his teeth as he recognised them not as humans but as Wraith soldiers. He put away his mirror and pulled out his pistol and fitted the silencer over the end before slowly creeping around the corner on his belly.

He knew eyes were watching from the nearest cell but he had no time to help anybody but his own men and by the looks of the scarred face in the firelight of the nearest torch there was little he could do at any rate.

He sighted along the pistol and unloaded four shots into the heads of the two guards and then another couple into their chests as they sank down the wall. Harry jumped into a crouch and silently crept down the corridor to his victims and sank back into a crouch between them. He holstered the pistol and pulled out his Sai from his right pocket and used it to make sure that they'd never get up again.

"Captain?" Markham's voice made him glance to his side and he swivelled around to face down the corridor. He lifted a finger to his lips to order for silence and the sergeant nodded his head to show he understood. Harry stood and pulled the torch from the wall sconce and killed it against the sandy floor just like he had done the first time and the end of the corridor went dark.

He made his way to the door and looked over the lock for a moment before deciding that trying to pick it would be a waste of time and the lock was too weighty to do something like that easily. He instead pulled out a strip of explosive from his pack and threaded it down between the lock and its plate. He lit the edge and ducked back to set up the other cell's lock as the first triggered. Soon both doors were unlocked with barely a sound and Harry slipped into the cell and up to Sergeant Markham who had picked himself up into a crouch.

Harry picked the locks with his lock picking set and after a few short minutes Markham was out of his chains and rubbing his wrists. Harry handed him his silenced pistol and told him to go stand guard. He made quick work of Corporal Howitt's cuffs and he came awake as Harry shook him slightly. Harry motioned for silence and handed the man one of his military issue knives and told him to wait outside before he headed across the Wraith bodies and released Corporal Synder and then did the same for the suddenly very awake Doctor Gall. Harry had to press his hand over the man's mouth as he didn't recognise Harry immediately in the darkness.

Harry pulled the man up after releasing him and led him out of the cell where the scientist paled at the dead Wraiths. "Did you do this?"

Harry snapped him a silencing look and moved closer. "Yes." He hissed. "Now, not another word unless you want us to get caught." The scientist nodded frantically and Harry turned to Sergeant Markham as he handed Corporal Synder his Sniper Rifle knowing the man was very good with one and then handed Gall a knife as he started speaking in a whisper. "I've only seen these two Wraiths. Are there others?"

"As far as I know just one. An officer." Markham told them. "The locals sent a runner to the Stargate to call them as soon as they had us in here and those three arrived and said something about a Hive ship coming to pick them and us up."

"Have they questioned you yet?" Harry asked concerned.

"Briefly." Markham told him. "Not torture or anything, I think they want to wait for their Hive Ship to arrive."

"What were they interested in?" Harry asked.

"Mostly about what we were doing in Atlantis." Markham told him. "They haven't tried to ask us about IDC's or anything."

"Yet." Harry finished for him and Markham nodded. "We need to get to the Gate before dawn."

"Did you come alone?" Gall asked slightly too loud and Harry sent him a withering glance but nodded all the same. Markham nodded at him in respect and Harry motioned them forwards as he pulled out one of his Sai's ready to do some damage. Each time they came to a pair of torches Harry and Synder would snuff them out so that they were always in the dark and anyone approaching would be in the light. That was why Harry hadn't snuffed them out on the way in.

They had to pause only once at the edge of the town as Harry and Markham, after swapping the pistol for a knife, snuck forwards and silently killed the four watchmen on the outer wall. Harry rigged the rope and threw it down the side of the ten metre wall. Markham signalled that he'd go first and went down without the descender as Harry showed Gall how to use it. The two Corporals copied their Sergeant and finally Harry set up the descender and clipped it to Gall's tactical vest and forced the worried scientist down the side before he too followed though Harry rigged the rope in a loop before going over so he could run it through from below.

With the rope coiled and over Howitt's shoulder Harry led them towards the Gate staying in the forest the entire time. Things were going well for about ten minutes before bells began ringing behind them. Harry paused and motioned for a stop as he listened around them. They'd obviously just discovered the dead guards, after almost half an hour which in itself was pitiful.

"Sir? What's the chance of this planet having a satellite in orbit?" Markham asked him.

Harry looked up at where the Sergeant was pointing and almost groaned as he saw the fast star travelling up the sky. "Why me?" Harry muttered.

Crashes sounded far behind them and Harry took his eyes from the rapidly ascending star and motioned for them to start moving. The star rapidly changed colour and it was obvious to them all what it was. A spaceship. Not five minutes later the full rumble of a floating fortress reached their ears and then from the distance the high pitched whine of Darts and the sound of their transport beams. "Damn. They're putting down troops on our tail."

"But we've got the head start!" Gall pointed out just as a Dart came flying up to them. Harry spun and grabbed the scientist who was slow on the uptake. His hand covered his mouth as he held him silently under the thick canopy of a large bush. The others took shelter and Harry released Gall as he stopped struggling.

"The Wraith can run faster than us." Harry told him. A plan came to him and he found himself sending of a mental apology to Sheppard for leaving him and ELizabeth on their own. "Get back to the Gate."

"Won't there be guards there?" Gall asked and Harry sent him a withering look that made him recoil slightly.

"No. According to Teyla they prefer the fun of hunting their prey. They will have left us a place to go." Harry remembered the flaw in their strategy. "If you find guards there then get to cover. Atlantis will establish a wormhole at dawn and you can get them to send through a cloaked Jumper to pick you up."

Gall nodded as the plan made sense to him but Markham frowned. "But your planning to delay them aren't you so we can get to safety." Markham stared at him. "With all due respect, Sir. You can't risk yourself."

"I don't give a damn about your opinion in this matter, Sergeant." Harry snapped knowing the only way was to not give any of them a choice. "Your only responsibility is to your men and right now you have to get moving before we're all overrun by your inane chattering and belief that this is a democracy."

Harry pulled off his GDS and tossed it to a surprised Markham before yanking his P-90 up as a clear dismissal and then stared at all four of them. "Get moving!" He told them as loudly as he dared. Markham gave the two Corporals a clear 'move it' gesture before turning to give Harry a hopeless look. "Get going Sergeant."

Markham snapped him a salute full of respect and Harry saluted him back. "We'll come back for you. I promise."

Harry watched him run off and looked up over the trees at the flickering lights from the engines of the a full blown Hive ship and thought to himself that when they came to rescue him he wouldn't be here to rescue. He ducked behind a rock and placed his five grenades out on the floor beside him as he checked everything he could on his P-90.

His last thought before he saw figures rush out of the trees following their tracks was whether Luna had foreseen this and that gave him a small sense of hope knowing that she would have surely warned him if this was his end. Though with her she might not have knowing that it was all fate. He didn't have time to ponder this too as he threw a grenade straight at the officer leading the tracking party. They all stopped and looked at the contraption and looked at each other just as it exploded utterly destroying the officer and sending the nearest five flying into those around them. Harry threw another two grenades down at the clustered Wraiths and as soon as those exploded he threw the last two.

In the ensuing cloud of dirt he flipped on his night vision goggles and started shooting carefully at any of the Wraith who couldn't get their wits about him. Dozens were dead before the dirt had settled and they started firing back in his direction. He was forced to pause and rip off his goggles as the bright lights left painful streaks across his eyes. He started firing on their own weapons and was satisfied as more went down before he had to reload.

More Wraith swarmed the area and they became far more confident as they realised that there was only one of him and twice he had to turn to the side to kill groups that tried to circle around him. When the last bullet fired he simply dove to the side and pulled his knives wanting to leave his Sai hidden in their pouches if he could. His first swipe cut the nearest Wraith's throat and it crouched as it gurgled in confusion at the odd strike. The others seemed to pause but as the fighting started Harry knew he was outmatched and evidently so did his powers as the wind picked up to remarkably powerful levels as the clouds shut out the last of the light leaving Harry staring out across blackness. Lightning seared his eyes but he used the moment to lash out at the closest Wraith. An explosion rumbled across the skies and Harry saw something explode in midair.

A flaming dart streaked across the sky just as Harry's body seized up as it was hit by a glowing energy blast. His eyes rolled into the back of his head before he could bring down a storm on top of them.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry woke with a feeling of pins and needles throughout his body. He looked around the room, or cell, that he was in and knew in an instant that he wasn't in the jailhouse in the town. He was on the Hive. He groaned and pushed himself up onto his elbows to look around properly ignoring the tingling running through his body. At least he now knew what the others meant about what it felt like after being hit with a stunner from the Wraith weapons.

The cell he was in was bare apart from the odd organic-like texture to the walls. The bars that separated his cell from the corridor were thing but he knew they'd be strong but he still felt the need to test them with his own hands so he pushed himself to his feet and gripped them in his hands. Definitely too strong for him with a block of C4 explosives. The room was lit only by two glowing sections of wall just outside his door and after studying every section of his cell he settled into one of the most shadowy corners and drew one his legs up. His hand ghosted over his empty pistol holster and his lips twitched as his fingers ran over the sturdy handle of one of his Sai. His other hand made the same motion on his other side and his grin widened. At least he could do something if the chance arose.

He made himself a promise to ride this out to the very end if he had to but he wouldn't use the Sai until he knew he could get out. They were the only possession he truly treasured, the last solid memory of Michael and he would waste them just to kill one Wraith. Until he knew that he could get free and down onto solid soil he wouldn't even touch them again.

Then it occurred to him. He was in a spaceship and that meant he might be in space making any chance of an escape next to impossible. After he escaped he would deal with the tricky matters of his lack of radio or something to transmit his IDC. He shut his eyes and let himself daydream for the time being. Perhaps if he waited for the Wraith they would tell him something useful that would make this whole situation less than pointless.

He hoped the others had gotten to the Gate.

He was interrupted from wondering whether Josh had asked Jessica to marry him yet when three Wraith figures appeared in his door and the bars made an odd 'snick' like sound as they receded into the walls. "Stand up!" The officer Wraith ordered him with a sneer on his face.

Harry rose his eyebrows up in surprise but didn't move. The Wraith's teeth bared as he snarled and the other two Wraith leapt forwards but Harry didn't move to defend himself as one smacked him across the face before they both yanked him upwards and clear off his feet. The officer span on his heel and the two holding Harry tightly followed at a respectable distance.

Harry let himself be pulled along but did retain some modicum of dignity by using his own legs rather than simply let them drag him across the ground. They led him through the tunnels of the ship in what Harry could only assume was deeper into the structure. He didn't want to risk accessing his power right now to find out whether they were in space or not in case the Wraith had something that could detect the change it atmosphere as he probed it.

He was thrown into the middle of a dark room. He couldn't see the walls in the gloom but he could just about make out a few figures lurking in those shadows. Light shone up from the floor around the room in odd patterns and Harry figured that he had been brought into some kind of meeting room. He waited patiently watching each of the figures as they in turn studied him as if watching a caged lion at the zoo.

Finally a tall woman walked into the room and Harry found himself remembering Sheppard's original report of the Queen of the Hive that they had awakened on their first off world mission. This then had to be this Hive's Queen unless several female Wraith walked around a single ship. Really they didn't know much about this particular enemy. The woman studied him for a moment as she circled closer to him.

"Is this some kind of dance?" Harry asked though he was only faking the amusement. She stepped forwards suddenly and her strike sent him flying across the ground backwards. She hit harder than the Wraith guard from before and right over the same place. If he didn't have a cracked cheek bone he was going to get at least a serious bruise. "So you don't like people taunting you? How about introductions since we're being so polite?"

"I have no such desire to introduce myself. However, your name I would know." Her voice seemed to have a deep quality to it that sent a shiver through him. Harry thought of refusing to answer on principle but decided to just go with it.

"Captain Potter, United States Air Force." Harry told her.

"And your purpose here?" She asked.

"Well I thought that would be obvious. You there, me here, you ask question and I'm sarcastic." Harry told her and she snarled. "You get irritated and start hurting me." Her hit landed right over the first one and his head cracked as it whipped around. He drew it back to face her and spat out the blood from the inside of his cheek. "There we go. You know it doesn't really matter which Galaxy you're in, evil interrogators are all the same. They just have different ideas of what causes pain."

"Enough!" She snarled and Harry felt pounding in his head that made him wince. "What is your purpose on this planet?" Her voice throbbed through imaginary splits in his skull and he cradled his head in his hands as it felt like it was about to explode.

"To rescue my people!" He spat at her and the sensation eased in his head letting him gulp in air.

She leered at him. "And your people? Where are they now?"

Harry knew that not answering would only bring on further pain but he simply lost all his cheerful attitude of before and glared at her. He hadn't given in to Voldemort's order to bow, nor lost his mind when tortured with the Cruciatus. He hadn't given in after Michael was shot and he wouldn't give in now. They had no other here to threaten.

The pain swept up from his spine and his brain felt like it was burning from the inside out as she repeated the question. Harry wasn't sure how long he put up with this but hours later as he succumbed to an unconscious bliss where he couldn't hear her words that caused such pain he knew that he hadn't given in to her demands.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Atlantis**

"What I don't understand is what we're still doing standing around here!?" John demanded of everyone. The table was full in the briefing room. Elizabeth was there sitting calmly though John knew she was rattled by the report that Captain Potter might be dead or at least onboard a Hive ship. Teyla, Ford and Rodney were there two but only for the time being before they returned to Hoff. Lieutenant Miller, Sergeant Markham and Sergeant Bates were also there and until a few minutes ago Corporals Synder and Howitts, and Gall had been there to give their reports.

Markham had politely refused to be dismissed citing that Captain Potter had just sacrificed himself for his team and he wouldn't be left out of this meeting. "John, I understand your desire to act quickly but under the circumstance there is nothing we can do."

"We can take a Jumper up and rescue him!" John growled as he leaned onto the table. Even Bates seemed to agree with him but then again probably just because it was Captain Potter they were talking about.

"And in your _honest_ opinion what are the chances of being successful in a strike again a fully awakened Hive ship?" Elizabeth asked. John deflated and he heard Markham sigh next to him.

"Slim." John sighed.

"Just slim?" She rose an eyebrow at him.

"Ok! Closer to impossible but he went in after them and sacrificed himself, we have to at least try!" John snapped.

"Don't think that I don't want him back as much as you all do but I can't afford to lose another team to the Wraith when he could already be dead." Elizabeth sighed. "I'll authorize a mission as soon as the Wraith leave the vicinity of the Gate to try and find tracks and what happened but unless the situation drastically turns I don't want you laying siege to a Wraith Hive ship."

Elizabeth gestured that the meeting was over but both her and John hung back as the others left. "If the Hive ship leaves the planet…" John forced himself to stop before he could say what was in his mind.

"Then we will have to face facts that Harry is lost to us." Elizabeth didn't look happy at the idea. "He went in knowing what _could _happen. He sent the team on knowing what _would_ happen. Believe me when I say that if he dies I will feel the same as you."

"And what is that, Elizabeth?" John asked looking at her.

"That we've lost something vital to our expedition." She paused. "And a good friend."

"You have no idea." John muttered to himself before frowning down at the table. He didn't even hear her leave the room and only realised that time had passed when Markham's voice sounded from near the door.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Sergeant?" John looked up but didn't move to take his weight off of the table.

"When we go to rescue the Captain I want to be on the team." The Sergeant declared. "With your permission."

"Yes, Sergeant. _When_ we rescue the Captain." John pulled himself up fully feeling new energy filling him at this declaration. "Get some rest so when the Gate clears we can go through."

"Yes, Sir!" Markham saluted and retreated and John settled himself into a chair to try to work out a way to board a Hive ship against several thousand Wraith soldiers.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hive Ship**

Harry woke with his back up against one wall, he vaguely remembered pulling himself back to his shadowy corner after they brought him back here and he struggled to look at his watch to try to work out how long he'd been here. It had been 1800 hours standard time when he had set off to rescue team two and he had been captured around two hours after that. It was now 1130 hours according to his watch so he must have slept for quite a time after his three hour torture session.

Harry groaned as he tried to push himself up but he became dizzy, obviously being mentally tortured by a Wraith Queen gave you a serious migraine, if not a serious fever. "I'd save my strength if I were you." The familiar voice made his head snap up to stare across the cell. His eyes widened in horror as he saw Major Sheppard sitting opposite him.

"Sir? What are you doing here?" Harry tried to stand but Sheppard was across the room and crouched at his side in an instant. He didn't try to push Harry down but Harry relaxed regardless. "When did you get captured?"

"I didn't, I came to help you." Sheppard told him.

"Good job." Harry muttered but frowned when he noticed Sheppard's state of dress. He wasn't wearing his uniform like you'd expect of a man that had mounted some sort of rescue mission. Instead he had on white trainers, dark navy jeans and a tight fitting white t-shirt that didn't leave much to the imagination.

Sheppard chuckled before grinning down at his subordinate. "I've only just started helping. Leave the sarcasm for later, Harry."

"Sorry, Sir." Harry regretted being sarcastic to the man who had come to rescue him but then realised what he had said. "Harry?"

"I believe that is your name." Sheppard told him.

"Well yeah, but I didn't expect you to call me it." Harry admitted finding that he really didn't mind Sheppard calling him that.

"Well we both seem to be locked in a cell on a Hive Ship in the middle of the Pegasus Galaxy." Sheppard chuckled. "I figure we can let it slide when it's just us two. How about it?"

"Ok." Harry paused. "John."

"Excellent!" John grinned manically. "You're far too serious all the time. You need to learn to loosen up. I'd welcome a rather less tense relationship between the two of us."

Harry blinked at him wondering what sort of pills the man was taking. "We're in a cell on a Hive ship like you just said and you're worried about how we treat each other."

"Actually, _I'm_ only concerned about how you treat me since it's you trapped in here." Harry frowned at John's strange words. "How do you feel?"

"Like some Queen bitch just shredded my skull like an onion." Harry told him honestly. "I didn't tell her anything useful though. I'm waiting for her to let me know where we are so I can try to bust out of here."

"It never even occurred to me that you would give in to torture." John told him with a small smile. "And I like your plan."

"What's your plan, John?" Harry asked.

"Hmm…about the same as yours." John told him with a grin.

"Why did you come here?" Harry asked.

"Because you need to be kept sane, Harry." John sighed. "And even you know that your going to have to let yourself care for somebody."

"I…" Harry frowned.

"You know we're not so dissimilar. We both know I'm just like you. I just didn't have such an early start." John told him. "Now get some more rest, I'll always be here."

Harry didn't understand the rather cryptic statement from his senior officer but just let his eyes focus on the man's fingers as they brushed a fraction of a millimetre from the skin on his exposed wrist. So close that he felt the air trickle across his skin just as if John had let himself touch Harry. Harry shut his eyes and focused on sleeping knowing that John wouldn't leave him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry woke when the sound of his cell bars retracting met his ears. He glanced across the room at an unconcerned John who stood as the Wraith entered. The Wraith seemed to ignore the cell's other occupant though and seized Harry once again. Harry gave John a confused look and the man came towards him and started walking backwards in front of Harry and his two guards.

"John? I don't understand." Harry told him. The Wraith officer paused and looked back at Harry once again ignoring John. "Are you helping them?"

"God no!" John gasped. "You know John Sheppard would never do that, Harry."

"Then why?"

"I'm you, Harry." John told him. "I'm an image produced by your own mind to help you come to terms with how you want to feel."

"I…" The Wraith officer stepped forwards and smacked him hard across the opposite side of his face before motioning for the two guards to drag Harry behind him. John paused and brushed his hand over Harry's cheek.

"One day, my Harry, you'll feel that." John promised him as his hand passed unfelt across his skin. Harry glanced down at his wrist remembering the feeling of the wind passing across his skin. His own powers trying to sooth him.

"Don't leave me?" Harry asked quietly.

"Not until John Sheppard's here to watch over you." John promised.

He was thrown into the middle of the same chamber but this time he noticed a different occupant to the room. A human man wearing old fashioned chain mail and a sword at his hip. One of the planets occupants. He saw John grin at the man from next to him and Harry knew they were still in orbit.

"I don't think we've met." Harry told the human even as he ignored the Queen. "I'm Harry."

"Dresden." The man grunted.

"So are you the one that betrayed my men?" Harry asked as he struggled to his feet making discreet movements with all of his muscles to make sure they could all function for want he wanted to do.

"For the sake of my own people." Dresden told him with a nervous glance at the Queen who seemed content to listen to this exchange.

"It's a shame I killed more of your men to save my own then. Your gamble seems to have backfired." Harry chuckled and Dresden hissed at him.

"Nine of my men!" Dresden glared at him.

"Well that's what you get for working with the Wraith." Harry told him uncaringly. "So, why are you still here?"

"He is here until we have finished selecting from this planet's crop." The Queen stepped forwards. John did a strange little jig that made Harry snort in amusement and he ducked his head down to the ground to cover the laugh and to cover his eyes as he reached out with his powers. His eyes clouded over and he began a large scale manipulation.

"What do you laugh at?" The Queen asked as she stepped forwards and grabbed his chin. "Does the idea of our feeding from this world please you?"

Harry chuckled. "I think it's disgusting but fitting for these traitors."

"Why you…" Dresden stepped forwards as Harry leered at him.

"Silence!" Both Harry and Dresden stumbled to their knees as her voice resounded in their heads. Harry, unlike Dresden, simply forced himself back up to his feet. Dresden crawled forwards to beg for forgiveness. Harry glared at the pitiful man.

"Let us begin where we left off and perhaps I will return you to the planet." The queen looked at Harry not knowing that her words had just signed her death warrant. Or at least Harry hoped it hand. He still didn't know whether he could do any damage to the Hive. "How do you signal to Atlantis to have them lower their shields and permit you passage?"

"Didn't you know?" Harry jested. "We're telepathic."

"Do not mock me human!" She hissed and struck him again.

"Fine we're immune to shields, we just walk straight through them." Harry grinned impishly.

"Tell me the truth." Harry groaned in pain and slammed to his knees as he felt blood run from his nose. The pain was far worse than yesterday. It was like the Cruciatus this time. "Tell me!"

"We send a signal." Harry relented knowing that it was the obvious answer. He looked up at John for forgiveness and he nodded back reassuringly.

"And what is the signal?" She asked and pain struck him again.

"Fuck you!" Harry swore.

"My lady!" A wraith darted into the room. "A storm approaches from the East."

"You interrupt me for this!" She rounded on the Wraith officer and the pain relented form Harry's head and he gasped for air.

"My Lady. My apologies but it appeared out of nowhere and his heading straight for us." The Wraith told him.

"What is this?" The Queen turned on Dresden.

"My Lady, we have no such weapon." Dresden kneeled and begged once again and John looked up at Harry and crossed the room.

"Do it Harry. Release everything you've pent up for so long. It doesn't matter what happens to this place and you know it." John told him and Harry felt the wind pass across the back of his neck as John gently brushed his fingers across his skin. "Channel it all, Voldemort, Michael's death, Dumbledore. Let it all go right now so that you can learn to care about me like you want to."

"Thank you, John." Harry told him making the Wraith Queen spin around to face him. She raised her hand to strike him again but paused as Harry's eyes turned black. The air hissed around them as wind rushed into the room as all of the air in the ship flooded towards them. The hiss turned to a whine as the walls creaked but held. Dresden screamed as his ears popped violently and he began to choke as his lungs filled with so much air that he could breathe out again.

The Wraith all cried out in pain and even they weren't immune as they clutched their ears in pain. Harry grinned maliciously as he pulled out his Sai. "Time for payback." He told the Queen, his voice sounded strange in the thick air but she heard him and her eyes took on a fearful look just before Harry summoned the storms immense power just as he struck out with his Sai. The first strike plunged into the Queens chest and the second into her neck to sever her spinal column. Her eyes went dead and the Wraith in the room went wild as they watched their Queen died. Harry didn't let them go unnoticed though and he suddenly sent all of the air in the room flooding back out leaving them to suffocate as he walked through the room with a lung full of air at his disposal.

Any other Wraith he came across was either in the process of being suffocated or was crying out in pain depending on whether there was air or not. Harry put a few out of their misery but simply spent the next twenty minutes weaving his way to the side of the ship hoping to find an exit. All the way he pulled the storm closer and closer to the ship and drew on almost everything he could to build the storm knowing that taking out a ship would be a very hard thing to do.

The first blast sent him into the wall and he grinned as he imagined the damage done by that first strike. He knew that if he could get to the Dart bays then he could let the wind get him to the ground but he didn't know if he could find them before the ship was destroyed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Atlantis**

John looked up from his bed as his radio came to life. "_Major Sheppard to the control Room."_

"On my way." He said back through as he grabbed his gear and almost ran through the complex. He skidded to a halt in the control room and took in the worried faces of the scientists, Sergeant Bates and Lieutenant Ford. "What's happening?"

"Look at this." Rodney told him before transferring what they were looking at from the laptop screen to the main display. John glanced quickly and saw that the Stargate was active before turning to look at the screen. It was evidently the M.A.L.P. and it's camera was showing absolute destruction. Trees were blown almost double around the gate and the M.A.L.P. itself seemed to be having trouble remaining still. In fact, as he watched, it took an alarming jerk up to one side before falling back to the ground.

"Is that the planet?"

"The one with the Hive ship that captured Harry." Weir said with a strange expression on her face.

"We were watching the Hive Ship hang above the town." Grodin told him. "We think they were culling selectively from the town."

"Yes yes, what's interesting is a storm just appeared from the east and raced over the area." Rodney sounded pleased with the idea. "It's incredible but I wouldn't like to be the Wraith right now."

"But I don't see a storm doing a Hive ship much damage." John put in.

"Normally I wouldn't think so but Wraith ships don't seem to have massive shields like the Prometheus or Asgard ships. Look." Rodney turned to the Laptop and clicked on the keys. The image on the large screen changed and angled around before closing in on the sky about a mile from the Gate. Explosions could be made out within the air. "That has to be where the Hive Ship is and it's losing altitude. The storm's destroying the Hive and for some reason they're not even trying to fly up above it."

Rodney shared his joyous look with everyone else and got many a pleased look in return. "Captain Potter is on that Hive Ship." John told him simply and the pleased looks within the room vanished in an instant. "Request permission to take a Jumper through?"

Weir looked at John for a moment but nodded her head in permission. "Major." Rodney looked at him carefully. "Get above the storm quickly and be careful."

"Sir, I'm coming." Ford told him.

John nodded and clicked on his microphone. "Sergeant Markham, report to the Jumper bay immediately."

"_Yes, Sir."_ The voice that came through sounded like the man was already running there.

Elizabeth pulled John to the side and onto the balcony before he could leave. "John, the storm isn't natural." She told him with a worried look. "It's Harry. He can create them, that's why they wanted him out here."

"What?" John was truly shocked for the first time since finding out about the Stargate program. "You've got to be joking."

"I'm being serious." Elizabeth held his gaze and he nodded. He could try to piece it all together later with Potter there to fill in the blanks. "I'm telling you because the storm might still be under his control or it might act as it wants. Either way you can't bring him back through the wormhole to the city unless he is unconscious or fully aware of what is happening."

"Why?"

"Because if he's delirious when he comes through he'll just create another storm on this end and wipe out the city." Elizabeth told him.

"Oh." John muttered worriedly and nodded at her before he turned and left. Ford and Markham were already waiting for him in the Jumper bay. "There's a storm on the other side of the wormhole powerful enough that it's taking chunks out of the Hive. Now's the time to back out." John told Markham seriously and glanced at Ford to make sure he understood to.

"There's no way I'm not going, Sir." Markham told him seriously and Ford nodded his agreement.

John nodded with respect and jumped into Jumper two's pilot seat. The ship jumped up slightly as he pulled on the sticks and it slipped into the centre of the room. He'd only ever flown once in a storm and never in one like this but at least he wasn't in an Apache this time. "Control room?"

"_Cleared to go, John." _Elizabeth told him. "_Remember what I said."_

"I do. I'll be careful." John promised her still having trouble imagining Potter creating storms. He got the slightly amusing image of Rodney trying to tie him down for experiments and knew immediately why Elizabeth and Potter hadn't told everyone though he was a tad annoyed that they hadn't told him since he was supposed to be leading the military portion of this expedition. He wondered if Colonel Sumner had known but realised as he pushed the Jumper through the Wormhole that the man wouldn't have contested Potter's joining the expedition if he had been aware of such a power.

As soon as they were through the off world Gate the Jumper gave an almighty lurch and span off to the side. John raised the cloak with half a mind as he struggled with the controls and angled the Jumper up into the air and threw it into full power hoping to get clear as fast as possible.

"Holy mother." Markham gasped as they broke from the top of the clouds into the peaceful, sun filled, sky above it. The whole visible surface was covered in roiling black clouds and lightning flashed in patches but all around one section and according to the newly appeared sensor display each of the lightning strikes hit the Hive ship hidden amongst that storm.

"That can't be natural!" Ford gasped looking at the display.

"Some kind of weapon?" Markham asked.

"Looks like it." John told them deciding that he shouldn't tell Potter's secret so easily without either his or Elizabeth's permission. He frowned though as he looked at it remembering Brazil all over again. Had Potter lost control of this power when his friend got killed? If so had he lost control again? His answer came to him just as quickly as he noticed once again that all of the lightning strikes were hitting the Hive ship and that the one in Brazil had spread like a normal storm.

As they watched the cloud changing shape in three places around a single section to the north of the lightning strikes. "What are they?" Ford asked.

"I'm not used to being above a storm." John told him.

"Those are twisters." Markham gaped openly even as John's own mental question displays three predicted twisters and their paths as they entered and destroyed the entirety of the town that had betrayed and captured their people. "Serves them right." He grunted.

"What about non-combatants?" John asked.

"We were told that whenever a culling happened the women and children fled underground into tunnels to wait it out." Markham said though he seemed only slightly bothered by it. "I'm sure they went down there as soon as the Hive ship arrived."

"Sir!" Ford leant forwards. "It's fading!"

"What?" John leaned forwards to look down too and saw the distinct shift of the clouds of thick roiling black to disturbed grey. "The storms ending."

As they watched the Hive ship appeared between gaps of the clouds and almost as if the storm had been holding it in the air it began to sink down towards the ground. John arced the Jumper around to watch as the last of the clouds faded into an unnaturally clear sky just before the Hive crashed directly into the mountain two miles from the town and Stargate. The rear exploded even as the front crumpled and with a resounded explosion that even they heard the Hive exploded sending a shockwave out that flattened every tree in the valley.

"Look at that." Markham whistled slowly under his breath in amazement.

"I don't understand." Ford frowned. "If it was a weapon it couldn't have been the towns people or the Wraith since both are destroyed."

"Another alien race we haven't met yet?" Markham surmised.

"I don't know but we're wasting time. We need to see if Captain Potter is still alive." John told them both and rapidly brought the ship down towards the ground. He wondered if the storm would have shut down on his own if Potter was killed or if it would have taken a mind of its own without his permission. He really needed to talk to the man about it as soon as possible.

"Sir! There!" Ford jumped from his seat and scrambled for his scope tucked into his pocket but it was unnecessary since as soon as he had drawn John's notice to it the screen changed shape to show a video of something near the Stargate.

The Gate was dead though luckily still standing but on the approach to the Gate was a single figure struggling weakly along, more often on his knees than walking normally though as they watched he forced himself up and to the DHD.

"That's Captain Potter." Ford announced happily just as the figure collapsed against the DHD to breathe. "He can't get through without his GDS."

"I know. Dial the Gate, Ford, while I set us down."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**On the ground**

Harry started from his resting place as the DHD started dialling on it's own. He jerked up and his head spun as his eyes became blurry. He had known that after dialling he would have no way to communicate with those in Atlantis so had waited to try to figure something out.

He stared down at the address for Atlantis and turned his head around to look around him at the open sky knowing that it had to be a Puddle Jumper. He offered a small wave before letting himself sag against the DHD though he stayed standing as much as he could.

A ripple formed in the air and a landed Jumper's rear hatch appeared to his right before it opened up and both Markham and Ford came running out towards him. "Sir!" Markham grinned at him. "You're alive. How did you survive that?"

"Pure luck?" Harry asked them before looking to his left away from them and at the watching figure of John in his dark jeans and tight white t-shirt. "Pure dumb luck."

"Come on, Sir!" Markham heaved him up onto his shoulder as he noticed how limply Harry was sitting and the two of them hauled him onto the ship. Harry was asleep before the ship lifted from the ground.

Harry's feverish dreams had no end as they danced between his old memories and small conversations with his John in what seemed to be a very hazy version of the Atlantis Infirmary, or actually one of the small single rooms just off of it. He never had company apart from John who never left his side and always reminded him that he didn't have to act like he didn't care.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Atlantis - Infirmary**

John and Elizabeth stood listening to a still rather upset Carson Beckett who had returned only three hours ago with the rest of them from Hoff after they had backed out of that insanity. Carson had pulled himself together remarkably since they had all gone to Hoff knowing that Captain Potter was ill from torture but had all done their jobs there until there was nothing else to be done.

"Captain Potter is still having delusional dreams, occasionally he's conscious for them but other times its just muttering in his sleep. Out of respect for his privacy, and confidentiality on his previous missions, we've kept the room clear at these times." Carson told them both. "He's temperature's back at normal levels and I'm hopeful that he'll come out of it completely any time now."

"Can we go and sit with him?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't see why not but I'd ask you to respect his privacy again if he starts mumbling in his sleep." Carson warned them. "I've treated people with bad backgrounds before and I know that none of them appreciate knowing that they've given themselves away to people without their knowledge."

"Of course, Carson." Elizabeth smiled at him winningly and he let them pass into the room where Harry slept peacefully on his bed for the first time since they had brought him back from the planet. Elizabeth sat in a chair near the door while John went to stand at the window. Neither tried to speak to each other and John hadn't asked Elizabeth to explain Potter's powers knowing it was best to have it explained to him in person and he didn't bother to ask now.

John turned around half an hour later and found himself looking at dazed green eyes. The Captain took him in and smiled ever so slightly before speaking. "John?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	8. Salting old wounds

Cast between Worlds

A/N; Ok, people. This is over 21,000 words long and has taken me ten days of hard work and another two days to proof read it so please be nice! This is not a filler chapter and in fact it contains a lot of crucial emotional moments that you'll miss but have to be there for the following chapter. It is set alongside Underground and Home for anyone that wants to know.

Please review! I like reviews! I wanted to get this out for Christmas but I didn't want to rush it and spoil it. Either way, I hope you all had a brilliant holiday whether you celebrate it as a religious holiday or just a time to be around your loved ones like I do.

Chapter 8; Salting old wounds

**Atlantis infirmary - private room**

Harry blinked as he opened his eyes. The glow of the ceiling tiles proved too bright for him and he turned his head to see John watching him from the window. "John?" He asked wondering what he was doing here. John's face took on a shocked edge and Harry's eyes cleared rapidly taking in the man's uniform. John had never appeared in his delusions in that uniform.

"Captain?" Major Sheppard asked and Harry felt his teeth grit. Obviously this was the real one. "I didn't know we were on first name basis."

"Sorry, Sir. I suppose I'm still a little light headed." Sheppard gave him a calculating look but let it go as he crossed the room. Another brief movement near the door made Harry turn his head to look in the other direction before pushing himself up onto his arms. His vision swam for a moment and he felt strong hands lifting up his pillows. "Doctor Weir."

"Don't worry, Harry." Elizabeth laughed. "We're still on first name basis."

"Sorry, Elizabeth." Harry smiled at the two before scooting back onto the headboard.

"Should you be doing that?" Elizabeth asked.

"I feel fine. Just a bit light headed." Harry told them with a shrug.

"Do you remember what happened?" Sheppard asked.

Harry gazed out of the window remembering everything that had happened. He'd been sent to rescue Sergeant Markham and his team but been captured by the Wraith on the way out. The rest came back to him and he described what had happened. "I take it you've had the report from Sergeant Markham?"

"He told us everything up until you ordered them on to the Gate." Elizabeth told him.

"Well the Wraith came in force and overwhelmed me." Harry told them bluntly. "I think I killed about twenty but they got me with a stunner. I woke up in a cell on the Hive ship. The Queen questioned me twice but I didn't tell her much."

"What did you tell her?" Sheppard asked though there didn't seem to be any suspicion in his words.

"I think the only thing that mattered was when she asked how we lowered the shield on the Stargate." Harry told him. "She didn't seem convinced when I told her we were telepathic or could walk through shields. I had to tell her we sent a signal."

"Did she do the whole pressure in your head thing?" Sheppard asked and Harry winced to show he was correct. "For how long?"

"It must have all added together to an hour and a half or so." Harry told him. Sheppard winced and looked at Harry with concern. "She's dead now though, they didn't take my Sai from me and I stabbed her pretty thoroughly as soon as she slipped and told me they were still above the town."

"And after that?" Sheppard pressed on.

Harry glanced at Elizabeth and she stood up and made her way to the side of the bed. "I had to tell John about your abilities when the storm covered the area and he wanted to mount a rescue."

"You wanted to mount a rescue through that?" Harry rounded on the senior officer. "Are you insane? You could have been blasted out of the air!"

"We were only in the storm for a few seconds." Sheppard defended himself. "You have no idea how Sergeant Markham went on about rescuing you."

"Oh so it was just the Sergeant that wanted to rescue me then?" Harry asked.

Sheppard rolled his eyes. "It's good to have you back, Captain." He smiled.

"I suppose you want to know how I escaped?" Harry asked and received a nod. "When I went in for a second round of questioning one of the townspeople was there and the Queen told me she was culling from the town and they'd go into space afterwards. I manipulated the storm up after that before attacking them."

"How did you get passed over ten thousand Wraith?" Elizabeth asked.

"I moved all the air from the inside of the ship into the Queen's room. The Wraith outside were suffocated and the ones inside were in too much pain as their lungs exploded to stop me from walking out." Harry told them with a sigh.

"You can walk through that kind of atmospheric pressure?" Sheppard asked.

"I kept the air around me at a normal level." Harry told him. "It's harder to explain than actually do."

"How did you get down out of the Hive ship?" Sheppard continued.

"Floated?" Harry suggested.

"Huh?" He blinked and Harry almost laughed.

"It's not really controlled, it's like falling down a wind tunnel. I think I might have torn something when I hit the ground." Harry offered.

"We saw the rest." Sheppard offered before lapsing into silence. "Well at least I know why they wanted you here now."

Harry eyed him and sighed. Well at least Sheppard could see that part of his worth even if he didn't trust the rest of his abilities. "Don't worry, Major. I've already told Elizabeth that I have to be controlling the weather for my emotions to have any effect on it. I won't lose control like I did in Brazil."

"In Brazil?" Sheppard frowned before realisation came into his eyes. Harry was surprised, he'd have to have not even thought about it for that look to come across his face. Had he not thought that Harry had lost control then?

"I was about to bring the storm down to escape when they shot Michael. I lost it and the storm took a life of it's own." Harry admitted. "That's the only time I've ever lost control of a storm I created."

"Well, when do you think you can be back to full duty?" Sheppard asked.

"Have you got my uniform handy?" Harry asked perking up. Sheppard laughed but they were interrupted when Carson walked into the room and smiled at Harry. "Any chance you're here to let me out?"

"In a couple of hours perhaps, once we've had a chance to check you out again. Your CAT scan came back with a few problems. Effects of torture I'd guess." All three looked at him in concern but Harry just shrugged. "I don't think it's anything permanent. Definitely not physical damage."

"I feel fine." Harry told him.

"They all say that." Carson rolled his eyes. "Right you two, out so I can check him over."

"Doctor, I need my second in command as soon as you can. The Marines are worried about him and I think they'll string me up if I tell them 'I'm sure he's fine' one more time." Sheppard said before winking at Harry and following Elizabeth from the room.

"Well then, Captain." Carson smiled. "Take off your shirt, you've got a damaged rib I want to check. You were thrashing around too much for it to heal so even if I let you out I want you off duty for three days minimum."

"Three days!?" Harry gaped in shock as he pulled the hospital shirt over his head. Carson ran his finger across a set of ribs on his back before checking a couple of burn marks on his collar bone.

"How did you get these?" Carson asked.

"Not a clue." Harry frowned down trying to see them before he remembered when the Queen dug her nails into his throat before hitting him with that power making his spine shake with the same pain at his head had. "Actually I think that's where she kept blasting me with that pain thing."

"I'm going to pretend that makes sense." Carson told him. Harry described what it felt like and at Carson's insistence he told Carson about the torture he'd gone through. "Definitely need to do a CAT scan and I'd definitely like you to go see Doctor Heightmeyer until she's satisfied you can go back to active duty."

"I can't just skip my duties. We're in the middle of another Galaxy!" Harry complained.

"Don't you think I know that, Captain? You were just bought in after being severely tortured by an Alien." Carson argued. "But we need you in top shape and if we have to wait three more days then so be it."

"But I'll be able to move around freely?" Harry asked.

"That's up to Doctor Heightmeyer." Carson told him.

"I don't like psychologists, Carson." Harry told him but paused. "Maybe I should though."

"Sorry, did you just agree with me?" Carson looked shocked.

"I've been delusional haven't I?" Harry asked eyeing the private room.

"How do you know that?" Carson asked.

"The room was empty the few times I woke up." Harry told him. "Plus if I was just feverish you wouldn't have isolated me."

"You were muttering in a haze halfway between sleep and wakefulness for a few days." Carson told him. "I isolated you because you were talking about past missions."

"Did I say anything bad?" Harry asked.

"I'm going to be truthful with you because I know what it's like for people like you and Major Sheppard to talk like that." Carson sighed. "All I heard before I ordered everyone out of the room was 'Please not Cedric.' A couple of other nurses and a few Sergeants and Corporals heard that one too."

Harry flinched violently but gritted his teeth. "Anything else?"

"After that I was the only one to treat you. I heard a good deal about someone called Michael and at times when you were semi-conscious it was like you were talking to somebody in this room called John." Carson shrugged. "None of that will go beyond the two of us."

"Thank you, Carson." Harry smiled at him. "I've always liked Scottish people."

Carson laughed. "And why's that?"

"We're both British after all and I went to a boarding school in Scotland." Harry shrugged. "Most of the people I meant were friendly enough."

"Oh, yes. Very friendly." Carson laughed. "Fancy walking to the CAT?"

"Seriously?" Harry perked up. "I get to walk and everything."

"You're evidently a very strange person after being tortured." Carson commented as Harry jumped out of the bed and proceeded to grab changed into his uniform trousers and shirt that Carson offered. Probably so that the second in command didn't have to walk through the infirmary in only hospital slacks.

"You get used to it." Harry shrugged.

"Getting used to torture is not on my to-do list thank you." Carson told him as he politely turned his back as Harry changed his trousers for the rougher set though he did turn back to monitor Harry's efforts in putting on the shirt. Harry felt like snapping at the man after he helped him on with the sleeve after a few attempts and curses but the Scottish doctor was only trying to help.

The trip through the portable CAT scanner was uneventful and after a few minutes that Harry spent sitting on one of the hospital beds chatting to an Athosian lad of about eighteen who had been accidentally shot with an arrow while hunting on the mainland. Eventually Carson declared him fit to go and Harry all but ran from the room. He was deterred however when Carson ordered one of the Corporals stationed at the entrance way to not let Harry out of his sight.

Harry eyed the man he had saved the week before as they stood out in the hallway. "You're actually going to do what he told you aren't you, Corporal Howitts?"

"Yes Sir." Howitts told him.

"Oh joy." Harry told him sarcastically before leading the way to his rooms. He wanted a shower and a change of boxers and his own boots would be a nice concept and his pistol and his Sai. He felt seriously under armed. Even in his Viper he wore a HK-MP7 in case he needed to land and defend himself. Walking around an Alien city in another Galaxy required him to wear at least one knife but unfortunately the good Doctor hadn't thought to arm him. They walked into his room and Harry, noticing the stuffy air, walked to the window and slide it up into the ceiling. He turned to eye the Corporal. "I'm going to go take a quick shower. Do you think it necessary to follow me or are you content to guard the door?"

"I'm sure it will be fine for you to go on your own." The Corporal returned his smirk and there was a small relieved twist to his expression. "It's good to have you back, Sir. We were all worried about you."

"Thank you, Corporal." Harry nodded getting serious again. He was rather touched really. He hadn't done all that much to garner their support and Howitts' use of the term 'we' meant he was talking about all of the Marines. Harry supposed that he'd proven his worth by his show of covert operations and the ease in which he moved through enemy territory. Really he'd proven that he had much higher training than the Marines and that was what they needed in an officer. Harry grabbed a change of clothes from his closet and quickly showered and shaved the small amount of stubble that had been allowed to grow since Carson had shaved it off last.

He came out of the bathroom feeling much better and wearing his uniform trousers and Heli Hanson long sleeved top he made his way to his personal armoury box and began unloading supplies. He strapped his two Sai pouches onto his legs before checking over his Sai and depositing them as well. He was glad that somebody, probably the Major, had returned his Sai to the locked box which ran with the same locking code as all the others. After that he checked his pistol out with military efficiency before slotting and clipping it into it's home.

Before leaving he made a note to put on his radio ear piece and pull his leather jacket on over the top of his shirt. For starters it made him feel more at home than the strange jackets the expedition wore and even without that it made a point to everyone that he was off duty.

"Right, my faithful sidekick. Where to first?" Harry mused but caught the amused glint from Howitts who didn't offer an answer. "Where's Sergeant Bates? I want a report."

Howitts frowned at him but Harry grinned and motioned to his ear piece. Harry knew that if he used it to find Sergeant Bates there was a large chance that Major Sheppard would order him to take it easy and not get involved. Howitts evidently realised this and called to find out Sergeant Bates' position.

"_I'm in the Armoury, Corporal. What is it?"_ Bates' voice came back after a moment.

"I've got a request for information. Don't worry, Sergeant, I'll come to you. It isn't urgent." Howitts grinned at Harry who smirked and began walking towards the door.

"_No problem, Corporal, but aren't you on Infirmary duty?"_ Bates asked with a clear frown in his voice.

"I still am Sir." Howitts told him with a resigned sigh. The two walked the two floors up through the tower towards the main Armoury and arrived a few minutes later. As Howitts cleared the door and Sergeant Bates saw him he snapped to attention as did the other Sergeant and two Corporals in the room. Bates saluted him and Harry sketched a salute in return.

"Relax Sergeant." Harry told him with an easy smile. "I'm on forced rest. Evidently the good Doctor Beckett feels that an entire week of sleep isn't enough for me."

"It's good to have you back, Sir. We were worried." Bates told him with as close to a smile as he could manage. "I can have a report written up for you on anything you'd be interested in within the hour."

"That's probably better than me asking right now but don't fret about speed. Just have me up to date for when I come back to full duty in three days." Harry told him. Bates had spent enough time reporting to Harry that he knew perfectly well what Harry wanted to know which was normally almost everything, no matter how insignificant it was. Evidently Marine Officers weren't that picky with knowing everything and when Bates had gotten up the nerve to ask, Harry had told him that since he was a jet pilot every small detail mattered to him. "Anything I should know in the meantime?"

"Not really, Sir." Bates told him. "Apart from exploring the city it's been pretty quiet off world."

"Good." Harry nodded. "How have the duty rosters been working out?"

"We've made a few changes you should probably ok but nothing too major." Bates told him.

"That's fine, Sergeant. I'll leave you to your work but even if I'm off duty for the next few days I'll always have my radio on me so let me know if you need anything." Harry told the older man.

"Thank you, Sir." Bates nodded and without comment set the others back to work before motioning Howitts out of the way with a blunt wave of his hand. He moved closer to Harry. "Sir, I'd just like to say. Off the record. The men are very grateful for what you did for Sergeant Markham and his team. Some of the men are tempted to apologise for not treating you with the respect you deserved. I'm afraid a lot of us took Colonel Sumner's words as gospel when it came to you and Major Sheppard."

"No apology necessary, Sergeant." Harry told him with a smile that was just as uncharacteristic for Harry as it was for the Sergeant. "I know it's tough for a tried and tested Marine company like yourself to take command from a couple of flyboys." Harry paused with a grin. "But remember that the Major and I have spent longer in the jungles and deserts, doing things that are so highly classified even the President doesn't know what they involve, than we have in planes."

"Yes Sir. We've realised that, it's just that Colonel Sumner made it sound like you were both here just to please Doctor Weir." Bates told him quietly.

"We are." Harry told him bluntly. "She was worried about being ignored by you all if Colonel Sumner countered her orders so she wanted people more loyal to herself in a position of command above you. But it was also General O'Neill that wanted us here to bulk out the command experience on this mission. Colonel Sumner was a good leader but he had little experience in covert operations, assassination or Aerial tactics. Both myself and Major Sheppard have that in abundance and what we lack in Colonel Sumner's strong suits we'll rely on Lieutenant Ford and yourselves to fill in."

Bates took a moment to recover from Harry's bluntness before nodding. "Thank you for your honesty, Sir."

"Remember, Sergeant. We're not really Air Force without our planes. If anything we are closer to your Force Reconnaissance." Harry told him referring to the Marine's elite force. "Does that make it easier?"

Bates actually laughed then and nodded. "I think that'll help some of the boys in their thinking. Colonel Sumner always had a few harsh words whenever Air Support was brought in to help us."

Harry chuckled. "Right then, Sergeant. I'd better go find Major Sheppard and Doctor Weir. You get back to work and let me know if anything crops up."

"Yes Sir." Bates nodded but thankfully didn't salute this time. Harry turned and strolled from the room with Corporal Howitts on his tail as he made his way up to the cafeteria for some food since he suddenly realised he probably hadn't had anything but IV fluids in a week and hadn't been fed on the ship. He settled down to think as he ate the evening meal of lasagne and bread. He knew he'd made a monumental cock-up that afternoon when he'd awoken and mistaken Major Sheppard with the John he'd conjured up in hallucination form but he didn't know whether Major Sheppard's confused reaction was anything to go by. Hopefully his slip between senior officer Sheppard and John the friend had been passed off as a result of hours of torture and a week of feverish delusions.

He knew he found himself missing _his_ John and knew in his own mind that John had been used because Harry wanted to be John's friend. In fact if he wasn't part of the military and they weren't stranded in the Pegasus Galaxy, Sheppard would be his type of guy. He smiled as he thought about him and Jessica sitting in their pub while his best friend tried to convince him to cross the room and asked John to dance. He shook the thought from his head. Not only were they not in Colorado Springs, Jessica was out of his reach at one of the most important times of her life. It had always been a sore spot when Harry made fleeting visits and barely had the time to move in but with the news of her possible engagement it stung like a fresh shot wound.

Also both he and _Major_ Sheppard were in the military and not only was that frowned upon but they were both Special Forces, and not only that, they were Black Ops trained and that came with a completely different mindset. A large proportion of Black Ops men never fully recovered enough from their training to hold out in a long term relationship. Harry shook himself physically and regarded the last of his food with contempt. He needed to do something productive to take his mind off of it.

"Are you done?" Harry asked Howitts though it was pointless. Harry had been staring off into space for so long his food was cold and Howitts had long since finished his own. "When do you get off duty?"

"Don't worry, Sir. I'll stick around till the nightshift and then go back to dorms." Howitts told him. "Unless you collapse of course."

"How reassuring." Harry remarked rather sarcastically. "Well you can meet me in the sparring room tomorrow if you think I still need an escort. And I think I can manage the distance between my rooms and the sparring room on my own." Harry added the last part when Howitts opened his mouth to comment. He shut it with a snap. "Let's go find our intrepid leaders."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next morning**

Harry twisted gracefully on the mat as he dodged an imaginary attack and then lashed out in the familiar warm up routine with his two Sai. They whistled as they cut through the air but before he could continue, Teyla walked through the door.

"You've worked yourself harder than normal." Teyla pointed out calmly. She was right. Normally Harry arrived at about the same time as Teyla and together they ran through about fifteen minutes of warm ups before a low paced fight where they learnt from each other. They didn't normally even work up a sweat. After that Major Sheppard arrived and Harry set to teaching the Major the movements while Teyla either watched, helped or trained a few of the other members of the expedition.

Today though, Harry had arrived an hour early and pushed himself as much as he could without a partner to spar against. He'd almost asked Howitts to fight him but the look of horror that had crossed the man's face as Harry had turned to him had stalled the question before it was spoken. Instead the man had stood in silence beside the door watching Harry's elegant dance and watching the flying Sai with trepidation. Harry was shirtless for the first time in one of these practices and he was sweaty and tired.

"I've got extra energy to bleed off." Harry told Teyla in way of answering her question. '_And anger and torture.' _He added to himself silently. He had pictured the Queen vividly in his mind as he sliced up his imaginary target.

"Perhaps we should get straight to a fight then?" Teyla asked as she stretched out. Harry loosened his own cramped muscles forcefully before pocketing his Sai and going to the edge of the room and taken out his Rattan sticks as Teyla warmed up with her own set of similar design.

Harry didn't pause to circle as they normally did and Teyla's surprise prevented her from blocking the low powered strike to her upper leg. She hoped back before swinging forwards to retaliate. The intensity of the fight was instantly notched up higher than their normal sparring matches but Harry was the first to leave an opening through a stupid mistake and Teyla kicked him soundly in the chest.

He gasped out as he stumbled back and his hand came up to grab at his ribs as he bent, forcing air back into his lungs. "You are injured." Teyla stated more than asked. The blow hadn't been that powerful.

Harry forced himself up and ignored the pain and motioned for them to start again. She nodded and lashed out. Harry blocked the first three strikes but the forth passed his guard and hit his upper leg painfully. "Captain? Perhaps you should…"

"No. Again." Harry snapped and lashed out with his Rattan sticks striking rapidly against Teyla's rapid attempts at blocking. He got in two hits, one to her leg and the other to her arm but he over extended himself and she flipped him passed her and Harry fell onto his back. He flipped up onto his feet but flinched as the move tore at his ribs.

"Captain Potter. You should not be fighting when injured." Teyla demanded. She knew exactly what his capabilities were and between the two of them they only ever got in a few hits on each other.

"Life's not that nice, Teyla." Harry commented blandly. "People have to fight when injured normally. This is no different."

He settled in a ready stance and Teyla fell into a defensive one but kept her distance. "I understand this anger. I have felt it many a time. You must not let it affect you."

"Teyla, I don't need therapy from you. I need to practice. If you're not going to help me then I'll take it out on the dummies without you here to monitor me." Harry straightened to prove he'd do just that and Teyla sighed and motioned for the fight to begin. "Thank you."

They fell into a fast paced battle where their strikes were blocked more often than not however Harry didn't get a few passed her guard since he wasn't pulling his punches as much as Teyla was.

He twisted out of the way ten minutes later and felt pain tighten his ribs as he stretched them beyond their damaged capacity. His arm slowed too much and Teyla, without thinking, took the opportunity and struck him in the side of the ribs with her next strike. Harry went down onto his knees and clutched at his side with a hiss. "Captain! I'm sorry! Are you alright?" Teyla was in front of him in an instant but Harry just forced himself up onto his feet and took on a defensive stance with this left side leading.

Before he could attack though, Howitts appeared in front of him with a shake of his head. "With all due respect, Captain. I don't think you should be doing this anymore."

"Sergeant." Harry warned.

"Not this time, Captain. My orders are from Major Sheppard this time. I'm not to let you do anything that would endanger your health." Howitts pointed out. Harry stared him down and could almost see the Sergeant beginning to relent but then he steeled himself up and stared Harry down. Harry sighed but nodded and saw relief shoot through the man. "Thank you, Sir."

"What do you think you're doing, Captain Potter?" Carson was strolling across the room towards him.

"You called him?" Harry glared at Howitts accusingly.

"No Sir, I called Major Sheppard." Howitts told him and Harry grimaced.

"And I called Doctor Beckett." Sheppard spoke up from the door where he was leaning.

Harry almost glared at the Major but thought better of it. He placed his hands on his knees so he could regain his breath again and relax his body and jumped as he felt Carson prodding at his ribs. He danced away from the probing fingers as they touched his damaged ribs.

"I told you, three days of no active duty." Carson reprimanded him.

"This isn't active duty. This is practice." Harry told the Doctor.

"Well now I'm telling you not to do it again until you're fully healed." Carson told him.

"I've had broken ribs before and done more with them than practice martial arts." Harry told him. "They'll heal regardless."

"But they won't heal as quickly if you keep straining them and you've gone and given yourself a nasty bruise over them as well." Carson told him. Harry glanced down and saw he was telling the truth. Teyla's last strike was bringing up a nasty yellow tinge that would undoubtedly turn into a rather black and blue bruise. He moved to the side of the room and grabbed his towel. He dried his face before throwing it over his shoulders to give himself some cover from the other four pairs of eyes in the room.

"Captain, take it easy." Major Sheppard told him. "Do I have to make that an order?"

Harry eyed him but shook his head. "No Sir."

"That means no sparring and no extreme exercise." Sheppard told him. "Understand."

"Yes Sir."

"Good." Sheppard turned to Teyla who was looking at Harry guiltily. Harry shrugged at her and she nodded to him in understanding. Perhaps she did understand the need to vent. He was sure Sheppard did too.

Harry walked passed them all out of the room to take a shower and change into his uniform followed by a sheepish Howitts. "Don't fret, Sergeant. You were right."

"I was?" He sounded relieved and Harry grinned at him.

"I shouldn't have been pushing myself but I wanted to vent off some steam and not much else works." Harry glanced out of the window. Actually creating a storm worked rather well but he couldn't do that here. "I'm going to take a shower and then I've got an appointment with Doctor Heightmeyer. You going to follow me to that one?"

"Not if you promise to call me as soon as you're done." Howitts told him.

"I will." Howitts nodded and backed out of the room. Harry sighed before going to take a long shower before changing into his uniform trousers and shirt. He slipped on his uniform jacket again since he'd rather look on duty when he went to see this woman. His radio went back on as usual and he listened to the round of reports as the shifts changed and the old and new shifts reported to Peter Grodin in the control room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Doctor Heightmeyer's office**

"Why don't you take a seat, Captain Potter?" The Doctor offered. Thankfully she didn't try to take her own seat behind the desk. He hated talking to people across desks. People only stayed behind their desks when they thought themselves better than the others. He sat in one of the comfortable chairs against the window and she sat opposite him and placed a laptop on the table between them. "Now, Doctor Beckett requested that I talk to you about a few things."

"What things?" Harry asked nonchalantly.

"Officially he wants me to find out whether whatever happened to you in that Hive Ship has caused any damage to your mind." She told him.

"Well, honesty in a Doctor." Harry grinned. "That's a refreshing change."

"How about we go with Kate?" She offered.

"Is this where I offer the use of my first name because honestly I'm more used to my surname." Harry told her. "But I suppose I can deal with it."

"Harry it is then." She nodded. "Now I know you've had a few reports done on you by therapists and I should just stick to doing another but I'd like you to use this time to talk about your past."

"The majority of that is classified." Harry told her.

"So I've read." Kate told him. "I'm more interested in the effect it had on you rather than the actual events."

"What exactly do you know?"

"Honestly, because of my access to your psychological file I probably know more about you than anybody else here." She told him.

"You mean my childhood as seen by Doctor Cotsworld and my career as seen by Doctor Swift." Harry commented.

"That's about right." She admitted.

"Well do you agree with their comments?" Harry asked.

"I prefer to make my own conclusions of people." She assured him. "And I won't be writing those conclusion down on this report. I'll only write down the report that Doctor Beckett wants in order to put you back on full duty. Anything else we talk about is purely for your peace of mind."

"Thank you."

"We are stuck in the Pegasus Galaxy and I believe we need every able bodied person to help us. You've been through a lot, Harry, and it amazes me that you are as happy with life as you seem to be. I want to make sure that it isn't just an act." She warned him.

"You know of my childhood? What happened at my boarding school?" Harry asked in invitation.

She took pity on him knowing that a lot of the details were classified after he went to the boarding school. "I know your parents were murdered by a cult leader. I know you were sent to your Aunt who neglected you and whose husband abused you on occasion. I also know that your boarding school ignored that and after you and Cedric Diggory were kidnapped by your parents' murderer and Cedric was killed you were expelled."

"I then joined the RAF and they gave me a life. I killed my parents' murderer and now I have a new life and chances that I would never have dreamed of before." Harry told her getting to the point in why he'd asked that. "That's why I'm happy with life. I feel like I belong here and I have a chance here to make a difference."

"You made a difference there when you and an SAS unit protected a school full of children. You earned a medal for it after all." Kate pointed out.

"Given to me by the Queen for killing the head of a murderous cult. The people that expelled me weren't as pleased by my arrival." Harry pointed out. He knew they were going over old files.

"Now, Harry. I won't pretend to know everything that is involved in Black ops specialisation but I need to know what happened in that Hive ship to make my assessment." Kate told him.

Harry sighed and leaned back in the chair as he stared out of the window. "You promise that only the result will go in that file and nothing about the details."

"Unless I feel the details are a problem but I'll show you what I write." Kate told him. "My concern is your health and not the report and from what I read you don't like people hiding truths from you."

"No I don't." Harry sighed before telling her everything about the captivity. He told her about the first torture session describing the painful pressure on his mind and the burning sensation down his spine that the Queen had used. He told her about how his body felt before he passed out but he paused before telling her about when he woke again. "I had a hallucination." He told her eventually, still staring down at the waves out of the window. He'd stood up at some point but she'd remained seated. Without writing a word on the laptop. She'd simply watched his every movement whereas the others he'd been sent to barely ever looked up.

"Are you sure it was a hallucination? They are rather rare." She told him.

"I probably had mental damage but unless Major Sheppard tried to rescue me and got caught then I'd say it was a hallucination."

"You saw Major Sheppard?" She asked.

Harry told her about their first meeting and his original belief that he was the real one and then the realisation that he wasn't really there. She didn't comment so he went on to tell her about the second meeting with the queen and his escape when the storm cropped up. Though he twisted his words so he wasn't lying or telling the entire truth. She'd think he had taken the opportunity and killed them while they were distracted.

He told her about his weeks delusions, about seeing Michael's death over and over in his mind while he was in his fever and of the odd memory of his childhood. He even told her he'd always dreamt of his cupboard at school and that he still felt claustrophobic in tight spaces though the violent impulses were often as not suppressed by his training. He still slept without covers normally and the only reason he didn't feel it in his Viper was because of the immense feeling of freedom he got when he was flying.

Lastly he told her about his venting while training that morning and then lapsed into silence for a minute to let her think. "Well, Doctor Heightmeyer. Am I mental?"

She laughed. "I don't think you're any more unstable than the rest of us." She told him and Harry turned around to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "The fact you freely told me about all of that without covering the worst details means that you are trying to deal with it."

"What about seeing Major Sheppard?" Harry asked. That was the only bit that really worried him. Made him feel weak.

"It's a well known thing that during torture people tend to rely on a memory of somebody they trust, rely on or care for to pull them through." She told him. "I imagine that if any other member of the expedition were tortured they would come to remember you or Major Sheppard in those moments because to many of us we rely on the two of you to keep up safe."

"So it's normal?" Harry asked relieved.

"Relying on them is but to actually hallucinate and believe them to be real is another matter." She told him. "We know that whatever the Queen did to you messed with your brain chemistry temporarily and we have no idea what that could have done when combined with any physical head trauma from your capture and your concussion a few weeks ago. It is very possible that that is the cause of your hallucination."

"But why Major Sheppard?" Harry asked as he sat on the chair.

"It could be any number of things." She looked at him calmly. "With disaster victims many say they picture the faces of loved ones in their minds but others picture people that could help them. It might be that you knew that if anybody could rescue you it would be Major Sheppard." She paused and tapped on her screen to refer to the previous reports. "Or it could have been your abandonment issues that stem from your childhood. Most people only deal with one type of abandonment. With you I can see three sets, your parents left you as a baby, by choice or not. Your Aunt abandoned you when you needed her and your school and friends abandoned you when you didn't fit in anymore."

"What does that have to do with Major Sheppard?" Harry asked. He knew he had abandonment issues but he didn't get what that had to do with the Major.

"He was supposed to bring the cavalry and rescue you after you were captured in Brazil but he didn't and because he didn't your best friend was killed." Kate told him calmly and Harry lurched violently out of the chair as the words slammed home. For the first time he actually saw it.

"That wasn't the Major's fault. He couldn't have gotten there in the storm." Harry told her harshly.

"Whether or not the fault was his or not doesn't always matter." She told him. "He was supposed to save you the first time and your mind hoped he would manage it the second time so your mind materialised him."

"And he still didn't manage it." Harry rubbed at his head. "It wasn't his fault in either case though."

"We know but you could still feel abandoned because of it." She told him. "Of course I could be wrong. It could be that you care for him and wanted him by your side at that time or because you feel protected by him by your shared experiences. It's a hard area to pin down."

"For starters I don't care for him like that. I'm not allowed to."

"That wouldn't stop you from caring though, Harry." She gave him a small smile. "It's written in your reports. You've never had a serious relationship with anybody. Never allowed anybody to get close to you. That's just another part of your abandonment issues."

"This is ridiculous." Harry told her. "I admit, though grudgingly, that in another place of time I could be attracted to Major Sheppard but that means nothing to me hear. He is a likeable person but I don't care for him that way."

"Very well, Harry." Her words were neither agreeing nor patronising and Harry let them slide. "Sit down, please."

Harry did as ordered and tried to relax. "So?"

"So…" She grinned at him in amusement. "I see no reason to not let you return to active duty. Nothing we've discussed will have any effect on your performance in the field but I urge you to come back and talk to me at some point. It doesn't have to be official, just a quiet chat in the cafeteria. And it wouldn't hurt you to befriend some of the others in the expedition."

Harry eyed her for a moment before nodding. "I can do that."

"Good." She nodded. "I'm going to do two things, one you wont mind the other you might but I think it's for the best. I'm going to recommend your return to active duty as soon as Doctor Beckett feels that you are physically well but I'm also going to brief Doctor Weir about your abandonment issues."

"What?" Harry was surprised.

"I wont go into details but I think that she has a right to know. I don't have access to all the reports and I need to know that you're not getting any worse." Kate told him.

"I hate you, you know that right?" Harry asked with a mock glare that was more to cover his unease than anything else.

"I know, I know." She grinned at him. "Think of it as a way of making sure you come back to talk to me."

"Evil witch." He muttered. She laughed and Harry shook his head in amusement. "May I be excused? I have surprise inspections of the barracks appointed in my head."

She chuckled before nodded and letting him out of the room. He tapped his radio. "Sergeant Howitts?"

"_Yes Sir?"_

"Meet me in the main barracks." Harry ordered before slipping down through the four floors to the main barracks under the scientists' accommodation. He was going to take his mind off of that session as much as possible.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A week later**

Harry had recovered from his rib problems without further comment. In fact because of his lack of complaints, Carson had insisted on a full X-ray to prove he was healed fully seeing as he didn't trust Harry to tell him the truth on the matter.

Since then he'd taken back the reigns on the City explorations as well as the odd trip through the gate with Sheppard's team when they felt it necessary to have another watchful eye on the trip. He had taken Doctor Heightmeyer's advice to heart and was even found talking with Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford when he was off duty. He hadn't spoken to Elizabeth as often as he used to since he knew she was keeping an eye on his attitude now that she'd been informed of his issues about being abandoned but Harry wasn't too worried in this place. The others didn't really have anywhere to go if they wanted to abandon him. Still he didn't particularly like the fact she knew and had changed her attitude ever so slightly to include him in everything. Honestly he'd rather fight about it.

It was with this in mind that he walked in and sat down in the latest of meetings that he really didn't have a need to be involved with. Neither did Major Sheppard really but one of them had to be involved in every meeting to do with the running of the facility.

Harry drummed his hands on the desk to the utter irritation of Rodney but the amusement of Elizabeth. Rodney was trying to inform the others about the wonders of the latest lab found out in the city's piers. Harry found it boring because he was in charge of exploring the city and he personally checked out every inch of the labs before letting the scientists search them. It was part of an action plan he'd put into place. No scientist was to touch anything without it being checked for booby traps or other risks. When Rodney had complained about this Harry had pointed out that the equipment they were exploring was thousands of years derelict and could be prone to exploding. After that he'd been pretty patient. People were easy to manipulate when you knew their trigger points.

"We're also heading for a food shortage." Elizabeth brought Harry back onto track with that comment. While he listened to everything he only paid attention to what could effect the efficiency of the base or the lives of those in it. Working out a new piece of lab equipment didn't bother him in the least unless it was about to cause a problem.

"I know it's getting pretty desperate." Rodney joined in with yet another cup of coffee in his hand. "We're almost out of coffee."

"Well, maybe you should stop drinking eleven cups a day?" Sheppard suggested with mock sweetness.

"I'm just making sure I get my fair share before it's all gone." Rodney defended.

"That sounds fair." Ford muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"I knew a man that said that exact thing two or more years ago about a similar food shortage." Harry spoke up for the first time in this meeting and Rodney gave him a strange look.

"Who was that?" Sheppard asked curiously.

"A drug lord I was spying on in Peru." Harry shrugged.

"What happened to him?" Ford asked just as curious.

"His men realised just how out of food they were becoming and just how much he ate." Harry shrugged. "I might have subtly pointed it out to them but the end was the same either way."

"What?" Ford asked.

"His men shot him." Harry said with characteristic bluntness just as Rodney went to take another gulp of his coffee and only ended up choking on it. "I'm sure we're more civilised though, Doctor McKay."

Sheppard and Ford had to cover their laughter with coughs while Bates had an amused glint to his eyes. Elizabeth was staring at Harry probably trying to discover if the story was true or not, which is was, while Rodney was trying to pretend that the coffee cup no longer interested him.

Harry got serious. "The Marines think that they can give us an extra fifty percent of time on the food by going on short rations, more if the scientists make the same cut." Harry paused to point out the fruitlessness of asking the scientists to eat less. Everybody looked at Rodney accusingly and he went red. "We need to find a source of food in the meantime. I don't particularly want to short the Marines. We need them in top condition, not weak from lack of food."

"Agreed. Teyla?" Elizabeth turned to their off world expert.

"There is a planet that we could get food from. They are farmers and traders. They are generous and a kind race." Teyla told him.

"Then we should visit these people and try to strike up a deal." Elizabeth nodded.

"The Genii Stargate is a short distance from their village. I suggest we walk. They are a simple race." Teyla paused and looked at Harry. "Perhaps it would better with a smaller team."

"You think I'm going to scare them?" Harry asked.

"I think that your suspicious nature may not have the desired effect on these people." Teyla amended. Ford snorted and Harry glared up at him which effectively shut him up.

"Fine. I'll stay. I have stuff to do anyway."

"Like what?" Rodney accused.

"Like protecting you greedy scientists while you frolic around the alien city." Harry retorted.

"Gentlemen." Elizabeth warned them.

"Good luck, Major. If you happen to lose Doctor McKay you could solve our food shortage as well." Harry commented before ducking out of the room with a laughing Sergeant Bates by his side. He heard Sheppard and Ford laughing at an indignant Rodney as he left.

Harry paused as they walked into the armoury. They were moving on to explore the north pier today which was mainly storage facilities at first glance and Harry was taking another eight of the Marines with the ten scientists, so that with himself and Sergeant Bates they'd be even in number.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Six hours later**

Harry was searching through a darkened lab with a lamp in hand with Radek Zelenka, who was in charge of the scientists without Rodney around. As opposed to a lot of the scientists he was a bit more accepting of military command and didn't try to push his luck with the others. If Harry told him not to touch something he didn't touch it. Harry liked him better than Rodney purely for that reason. Pairing the two up was the logical choice on these missions since Harry and Radek were in charge of the others and it meant they were together if something went wrong. If one of the other men found something dodgy they could call them both at the same time and cause less of a disruption.

"_Captain Potter, this is Control."_ The voice made him jump and he smacked his head violently on the console he was checking over before letting Radek try to connect up the power to the room. His vision almost went black from the impact with the sharp edge of the contraption and when his could see again his vision was filled with stars.

"Damn it all!" Harry snapped even as he clicked on his mic.

"_Captain?"_ Grodin's voice was amused.

"Damnit, don't make me jump like that!" Harry cursed. They'd slackened off a lot on radio protocol especially on the scientist's net which was the one being used at the moment. He only insisted on protocol when giving orders or reports. Talking to each other could be done with less reserve.

"_Are you ok, Captain?"_ Grodin sounded a bit more concerned this time. Harry sat on the floor and Radek checked the small cut on his head gently as he spoke.

"I assume so. What is it Peter?"

"_Major Sheppard and Doctor McKay just returned and they are requesting your presence in Doctor Weir's office."_

Harry glanced at Radek who winced. "I'd suggest you get a pad to stop the bleeding." He told him bluntly.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Harry told Grodin simply before pushing himself to his feet. He switched to the military frequency and pressed the mic. "Sergeant Bates, did you hear that?"

Sergeant Bates was the Senior NCO and as such normally monitored the scientist's frequency. "_Yes Sir." _Bates told him.

"You're in command. You've still got a few hours so if you want to explore further that's up to you but I'd suggest listening to the good Doctor Zelenka on that one." Harry nodded at Radek as he said this and the man nodded back.

"_Understood Sir."_ Bates responded.

"I'll stay on the net." Harry declared before he unclipped one of his pouches on his tactical vest and unzipped it. He pulled out a four inch square of padding and after clipping the pouch back on he pressed it to the back of his head. He escorted Radek to the nearest team which happened to be Sergeant Bates' team with another Marine and three Scientists before jogging off to the nearest transport room and from there to the Control room.

He walked in and dumped his backpack off of his tactical vest and unclipped his P-90 as he sagged into a chair. "What happened to you?" Rodney asked him imperiously.

"Hit my head on a console when Grodin shouted in my ear." Harry told the three people with a threat of retribution shining in his eyes for anyone that laughed at him.

"Let's have a look at that." Sheppard offered knowing that he had better first aid training than Elizabeth and Rodney combined. Harry relented and let Sheppard pull the pad away from under his own hand and felt him moving his hair to get a good look. "It's just a cut but it's still a head injury."

"Get Carson to patch it up before you go back." Elizabeth commented.

"I planned on it." Harry promised before looking at Elizabeth in prompt.

"They've managed to make a preliminary deal for food in exchange for medicines and explosives." She told him.

"Explosives?" Harry turned to look at Sheppard.

"C4." Sheppard told him.

Harry looked at them all. "We can't spare something like C4. Medicine can be remade or regrown but C4 is finite." Harry told her. "Quantity aside I'm not sure I'm happy giving a bunch of farmers a device as powerful as C4. I'd even be happier giving them grenades."

"He's already agreed to it." Elizabeth pointed out.

"You what?" Harry spun on him before adding the hasty 'Sir' required for such a blunt remark. "Sir, are you sure?"

"We need the food, Captain."

"He has a point." Harry sighed looking back at Weir. "For the record I'm not particularly happy with this."

"Harry, you're the best we have when it comes to knowing what we might need. If you think we might need the C4 more than the delay in finding food then I'll support you." Elizabeth told him.

Harry sighed and stood holding the pad to his head as he walked to the window and looked down at the Marine Guard sitting by the Gate. On the one hand they'd have enough food to last them but less available C4 if things went pear shaped. But if he followed his instincts and refused they'd have to find more food elsewhere. In the end he sighed and turned back to look at Weir. "I support Major Sheppard in this. We can't use the C4 if we've all starved to death."

"Thank you, Captain." Sheppard told him with a grateful nod. He didn't like it any more than Harry but they both knew you had to do what you had to do to stay alive.

"Then you can tell them we agree." Elizabeth told Sheppard with a tired look. Sheppard nodded and led Rodney out of the room.

"Major?" Harry asked just as he left the room. Harry stood in the door to talk to him as Rodney moved away obliviously. "My instinct says that farmers shouldn't be this demanding for food. Are you sure about what they want the C4 for?"

"I know." Sheppard assured him. "I won't give them any unless I know for sure."

"Thank you, Major." Sheppard nodded. Harry turned back to Elizabeth who was leaning her chin on her interlaced fingers.

"What do you think, Harry?" She asked him as he flopped into the seat opposite her own.

"I don't like farmers that ask for weapons." Harry told her.

"They want them to uproot trees." She reminded him.

"That's overkill." Harry shrugged. "I'm putting three Puddle Jumpers of ready status and putting Lieutenant Miller and Sergeant Markham on ready status as well as a few men for each."

"That's extreme."

"Hey, I only said I was putting them on alert. Extreme is if I give in to my instinct and take those three Puddle Jumpers through right now under cloak and lurk over our people's heads." Harry told her with a smirk.

"Let's keep that on standby." Elizabeth nodded at him and Harry dismissed himself before tapping on his radio and telling all the military people what he wanted. He got confirmation from Lieutenant Miller, really a scientist but a member of the Navy brought along because of his ATA Gene and knowledge of advanced technology. He wasn't really here as part of the military and his combat experience was negligible. Sergeant Markham reported in a few minutes later to tell him a team had been selected and would wait for further orders.

Harry had a few stitches in his head when he returned to the exploratory mission in the outer reaches of the city but he stayed with the group's base by the transport point in case he was needed by Sheppard, Teyla, Ford and McKay. He got a call almost two hours later by Peter to say that once again Sheppard had returned though this time with McKay instead of Ford. Harry left Sergeant Bates in command again and returned to Elizabeth's office.

"Your instinct was right, Captain." Sheppard told him as he passed his hand through his hair. "Big city under ground. McKay thinks they're about sixty years behind us technologically."

"Which is more than most of the planets around here." Harry surmised without the 'I told you so' the Major was obviously expecting.

"They say they used to be a multi-planet nation."

"World war two level." Harry bit his lip and looked at Rodney with an accusing eye. "You didn't promise that you'd fix their super criticality problem did you?"

"Well yes…how did you?" He trailed off with a stunned look at Sheppard and then Weir.

"Why does everyone assume pilots are clueless?" Harry asked. "I've fired one of the most powerful nuclear weapons we have from my Viper. I know how they work and these people obviously still want our C4 and I can only see one reason for it now. Pulling tree roots isn't really a problem for a 1940's society."

"I'm impressed." Rodney told him.

"Major?" Harry turned to him.

"They want use of our Puddle Jumpers to deliver their nuclear devices to sleeping Hive ships." Sheppard told him.

"And you did say no, right?" Harry asked him but knew by the rebellious look there that he had at least thought about it.

"So you're against this?" Weir asked him.

"Sorry, Major, but I have to say I am." Harry told him. "Giving them weapons is one thing but actually helping them with Atlantis technology is pushing it. If you're spotted then the Wraith will know it was us. We already have them coming down on us, do we need to provoke them by helping blow up entire Hive Ships?"

"If we succeed we get rid of a few of the bad guys." Sheppard pointed out.

"A few." Harry pointed out with a sigh. "For the record I think we should pull out of this. It's getting too complicated for my tastes."

Weir nodded but sighed. "They still have Teyla and Ford."

"I think we can do the mission if we're very careful." Sheppard told him. "As long as the Jumper stays cloaked then it can't go wrong."

"The only way I'm giving this my ok is if three other Jumpers follow you through. I don't trust what I've heard." Harry told him.

"I don't actually need your ok on this, Captain." Sheppard pointed out though he seemed to want it regardless.

"But you do need mine." Weir told him. "This could work out for us. It'll give us more Intel on the Wraith and the possibility of a working alliance but I want Harry hovering over the planet for the duration so he can come to your aid."

Sheppard nodded and when he and Harry left the room he actually sent Harry a look that showed he was relieved to have Harry backing him up.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Genii home world**

Harry was able to get the HUD of Jumper three to show the positions of Jumpers two and four even though all three Jumpers were cloaked. Evidently as long as the other two Jumper pilots permitted it they could track each other. It made sense otherwise no two Jumpers could operate in tandem. It was still a relief however since he didn't have to worry about Lieutenant Miller or Sergeant Markham crashing into him as they hovered in various positions around the Stargate.

They arrived on the tail of the uncloaked Jumper piloted by Major Sheppard and had instantly gotten some altitude and monitored activity until Jumper One had slipped back through the Gate to an unknown planet.

"_Captain? This is four."_ Sergeant Markham spoke up using the Jumper's communication systems in case the Genii could detect their own signal, albeit scrambled as it was. "_I have at least a company of armed soldiers from underground at the coordinates Major Sheppard specified."_

"Roger, four. Follow them." Harry ordered. Obviously they weren't going to play nice. Sheppard had been gone for almost forty-five minutes now so unless they'd been captured they should be back soon. These soldiers were obviously a welcoming party and probably not a pleasant one.

"Sir, the Stargate." Howitts spoke up from the other chair.

"I see it, Corporal." Harry told him as the Stargate whooshed into life in front and below him.

"_Sir, the soldiers have taken up position approximately a hundred yards from the Gate." _Markham reported.

"Roger that." Harry sighed. "Looks like we were right. As soon as Jumper One lands take a hover five metres above it and when we get the signal uncloak and open bay doors."

"_Understood, Sir."_ Markham told him.

"_Understood, Captain." _Miller repeated calmly.

"All men stand by. If things turn ugly you'll be rappelling down. We won't land." Harry told his own crew of four Marines and the others sitting in the other two ships. With their weapons and the three Jumpers in the air they were easily a match for even twice as many Genii.

As he finished talking a Jumper erupted from the Gate and calmly came to a landing only twenty yards from the trees where the ambush lay quietly. The back opened as Harry came into a hover just above it. His HUD showed that Markham had settled on his right wing and Miller had settled slightly further away on his left so he could swing down and flank the men in the trees.

Sheppard walked out of the Jumper followed by Rodney, Ford and Teyla as well as a man in a Genii uniform. A small group of Genii walked out of the trees as if they were expected and came to a stop in front of the group. The Genii that had accompanied the Jumper switched sides and the two groups exchanged a few words before the man shouted something and the whole company of Genii lurched out of the trees and aimed weapons at Sheppard, Teyla, Ford and Rodney.

Sheppard scratched the side of his head and his mic came to life letting Harry and the Marines hear what was going on. He'd obviously turned up the gain.

"_Your weapons."_ The Genii man motioned at them.

"_I don't think so." _Sheppard snorted.

"_We have the advantage, Major."_ The man retorted.

"_Yeah." _Sheppard sounded amused but the man missed that.

"_This is what your father died for."_ Teyla told a small blond woman. "_In the name of those who would lie and steal from those they would call friends."_

"_Well I lied too."_ Sheppard pointed out before glancing up and incidentally directly at Harry where he floated. "_Jumpers two, three and four. Execute."_

Harry grinned in amusement as he uncloaked the ship. Dropped about two metres and then opened the drone bays on the sides of his Jumper.

"_You didn't really think we only had one Jumper did you?"_ Sheppard was close to teasing him now as all the Genii aimed up at the Jumpers. Harry's thoughts were on a hair trigger and he had to concentrate not to actually fire a drone and wipe the Genii out. "_Tell your people to get back and nobody will get hurt."_ When the Genii didn't respond, Sheppard clicked his mic and Harry shuttered his eyes to bring one of the Drones to life. It whined and glowed on the side of the ship but Harry kept it in it's casing.

"_Wait!"_ The Genii gasped. "_You promise to leave?"_

"_That was the plan."_ Sheppard told him. "_Guess we'll have to go somewhere else for our food but it's only right we get something out of this." _He reached over to the man and plucking a small device from his hands.

"_You don't want to make enemies of the Genii!"_ The man warned.

Harry tilted the ship ever so slightly and the man looked up at him fearfully. "_Same here." _Sheppard laughed. Harry deactivated the Drone but left the bay doors open as he moved forwards to cover Major Sheppard's retreat into the Jumper. Soon all four were cloaked again and flying back through the Stargate one at a time.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Atlantis - that evening**

Harry stood with his elbows on the balcony as he stared out at the stars. He was wearing his uniform trousers but other than that he was bare chested and bare footed. He was enjoying the ripple of the natural air that brushed against his skin when he heard the chime from his door to show someone was asking for permission to enter. He called out a greeting and a moment later the door slid up into the ceiling and he could hear somebody walking through his room.

"Do you mind if we have a chat?" Sheppard asked as he came out onto the balcony. Harry turned and nodded at him before leaning back onto the balcony with his arms still on the railing. "I just wanted to say that I appreciate your honest today, with the C4 and then the Jumpers."

"I figure you don't want me simply agreeing to everything you say." Harry shrugged. "Though I assure you I wont do it in front of anyone but your own team and Elizabeth. I know you need to be the all knowing leader."

"You say that as if you have the experience." Sheppard pointed out before moving up to Harry side and leaning forwards on the railing.

"I was squadron leader for a while before this posting and you could say people expected me to be all knowing when I was a kid." Harry offered.

"Were you the class nerd or something?" Sheppard asked.

"Nah, just the school hero." Harry sighed. "Hero when they wanted me, failure when they didn't."

"I know the feeling." Sheppard sighed. "It was like that for a while in school. I was captain of the cross-country team and as long as we were winning I was the hero, but as soon as we lost a race it was my fault."

"About that, yeah." Harry said. "Except it was with random attacks against students that people decided to blame on me and then when I saved one of them they all became my best buddies again." He laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"And you let them?" Sheppard asked.

Harry laughed even harder. "I was naïve."

Sheppard snorted. "I can't imagine you being naïve."

"I was naïve and a lot more too, quiet, submissive, trusting. All the things that get you hurt."

"I don't know, I think trusting somebody is a good thing. Once you know who to trust that is." Sheppard sighed before turning to look at Harry. "Do you still think I don't trust your abilities because of what happening in Brazil?"

Harry flinched. "How did you know that?"

"You're not the only perceptive one around here." Sheppard shrugged. "I joked with you about getting distracted on the first day here and you went cold on me and then you lost it at Elizabeth when she talked to you about Brazil. To be honest I have the highest respect for what you managed to salvage from that."

"Even now that you know I caused it?" Harry asked sceptically.

"Especially now. You did everything you could and even though we _both_ made a mistake in not calling in backup it's a decision any sensible person would have made. I've read your report on what happened in that room and the abruptness of what they did took me by surprise." Sheppard assured him. "What I came out here to say is simple."

Harry turned to look at him as he paused and in the end turned to look out at the dark sea. "So simple you had to drag all of that up again?"

"I have to know you understand how I stand on this." Sheppard told him. Harry nodded to show he honestly did. "We're both the same sort of person, Captain, we both don't really have that many friends if any and we live for our jobs. With all our ranks and duties put aside I think we can be proper friends."

"With all our ranks and duties put aside?" Harry asked. "That's a tall order."

"Ok, let's say we're not in an alien Galaxy and instead in America on leave?" Sheppard asked. "Do you think we can be friends?"

"In America, yeah." Harry nodded.

"And here, right now?" Sheppard asked hopefully.

"Why does this bother you so much?" Harry asked. "I don't see you asking Doctor Beckett and Doctor McKay this?"

"They're not the kind of people I'd be friends with." Sheppard shrugged before sighing. "Plus I hate it when you go all cold on people, especially me."

Harry snorted in amusement but shook his head. He knew people were unnerved by his cold exterior. Ford had even mentioned it. "So, being friends out here in the Pegasus Galaxy, with an alien race bent on finding and destroying Earth. Cut off from everything we know."

"Exactly." Sheppard nodded.

"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "I can try I suppose."

Sheppard blinked at him before a cheeky grin spread across his face. "Glad to hear it, Captain. The first drinks are on me."

"As long as you're driving." Harry pointed out. "It's quite a way to the nearest pub."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few days later**

Harry, when off duty normally spent his time walking through the explored sections checking on everyone. Most of the Marines shifts didn't go by without a random visit from their new Captain and they'd gotten over the idea that he was simply casting surprise inspections and realised that he was simply interested in keeping in touch with everything that was happening. He spent time in the cafeteria or the balcony around it with other members of the expedition getting to know them all, taking Doctor Heightmeyer's advice seriously. He also spent some time sharing war stories with Ford and Sergeant Markham who, since he spent so much time ferrying Athosians between the City and the Mainland, had taken a liking to aircraft.

"It's your turn, Harry." Elizabeth told him. They were sitting in her office with her data board in the middle of the table with a 3D imaging chess game running on the surface. Harry looked at her before leaning over the board to see clearer.

He tapped his knight and took one of her pawns, hoping to lead her into a trap. Neither of them were really good but he had a few tricks up his sleeves from his childhood games. At least in this game the characters didn't shout insults at him, though the little figures did move.

"You can't seriously say that the government let you bring something like this?" Harry asked her.

"It's recreational." She defended. Harry snorted and muttered something about abuse of leadership powers which made her laugh. "I've noticed you've been a lot more cheerful lately."

Harry smirked up at her as she took his knight with her Queen safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't sacrifice his own Queen to take hers. "Major Sheppard and I have come to an agreement." He told her as he leaned back in his chair.

"An agreement?" She asked nervously.

"For starters it's that if we were back in Colorado Springs without duty and responsibilities that we'd make good friends." Harry told her as he took her by surprise and used one of his Castles to take her Queen. A move she'd missed.

"And out here?" She raised an eyebrow at him before studying the board and taking his Castle with her bishop in an act of revenge. She grinned at him and he raised his eyebrows back at her and used his long silent Queen to take the bishop with a casual couple of taps of the board.

She glanced down briefly but concentrated on his answer. "He wants to be friends." Harry opened up to her and worried his lip slightly.

"And you?" Elizabeth asked before tilting her head. "I can see you want to."

"I told him I'd try." Harry told her. "It's hard for me to make friends, especially ones I have to rely on."

"Ah, you mean…?" She paused wondering whether it was rude to ask outright.

"What Doctor Heightmeyer told you?" Harry prompted her wanting to know what had been told.

"She said you had abandonment issues and not to be surprised if you occasionally worried about being left out." She told him with a reassuring smile.

"I don't mind being left out. I don't like people betraying me. Though I did get to shoot the last person that actively betrayed me, but he was an informant." Harry shrugged at her shocked look.

"I really don't think I needed to know that." She muttered. Harry laughed and she looked up in surprise. Harry pushed himself to his feet.

"I really am opening up, Elizabeth, it just takes me a while longer than most people." Harry grinned slightly. "Look, I'm opening up to you already and I even told Major Sheppard's childish side that I'd be friends."

She looked at him in shock at his description of Major Sheppard's more playful side. "Where are you going?" She realised he was getting ready to go.

"I'm due to go through with Major Sheppard's team, its misty and he wants an extra pair of eyes." Harry shrugged. "I think he wants me to watch the weather really. Either way I have to get ready to leave in an hour and I want to check the lower outposts before I go."

"Can't we finish our game first?"

Harry smirked and looked down at the board. It showed a blinking message across the board that declared that Elizabeth was in checkmate. "I think we did."

"When did that happen?" She gaped.

"Queen took Bishop." Harry grinned as he moved to the door. "Right before Major Sheppard wanted to be friends."

She sighed explosively and shook her head at him. "And you talk about John's childish side."

"Oh that's just the side effect of advanced training. It makes us all a bit immature in the end." He ducked out of the room mentally running through the normal rota so he'd know who he should expect to find in the various places around the city.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later**

Harry strolled into the Gateroom last of the team of five. Ford was sitting on the steps that led to the walkway in front of the Gate while Teyla, Sheppard and Rodney stood behind him on the centre waiting for him. Ford shot up as soon as he saw Harry and almost braced before he stopped himself.

"Sure, you leap up for the Captain but not me." Sheppard muttered though loud enough for them all to hear. Ford shot a nervous look over his shoulder before turning a worried one on Harry. Harry laughed.

"I'm obviously scarier, isn't that right Lieutenant." Harry raised an eyebrow at the man his own age.

"Yup." Rodney muttered before realising that he'd said it allowed.

"Don't worry, Doctor McKay, I'll protect you from the scary mist." Harry pointed out amused at the reaction from the suddenly pale scientist.

"Are we done?" Sheppard asked with an amused look.

"Sorry, Major." Harry showed the slightly twitch of his lips to show his new friend that he was just as amused. Sheppard turned and waved at the control room. Almost instantly the Gate came to life and began dialling. "So what's with this planet?" He asked Rodney as he pulled up his P-90 and cocked it with a loud snap.

"We couldn't see much from the MALP." Rodney admitted. "There were ruins around the Gate but the place was covered in fog."

"That's why I'm here." Harry nodded just as the Gate swept open. He walked forwards with Ford at his side and as soon as he got the signal from Sheppard he stepped through.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**M5S-224**

Harry could have sworn that he felt something against him as he walked out of the Event Horizon. It was there but it wasn't, like when you walked through a Ghost at Hogwarts though without the chill that went through you. He stepped forwards to half block Ford before he crouched down on one knee. He listed a clenched left fist and Ford instantly went silent. Sheppard followed them through and went instantly quiet when he saw what Harry was doing and he shut Rodney up as he went to speak as soon as he and Teyla appeared on the planet.

Harry stared out through the fog listening passed the low breathing of his own team waiting for the telltale scuff of dirt that would betray a lurker or the faint eddy in the fog that would show where someone had moved but there was nothing. He dropped his clenched fist and sighed as Sheppard knelt loosely at his side. "What is it, Captain?"

"I thought…" Harry frowned. "It was just a feeling that I should have seen something. You know like a sixth sense that somebody is watching you."

"Did you see anyone?" He asked.

"No." He frowned. "I could have sworn something was here. Maybe it was just the Gate travel. I need to get out more."

He nodded at Ford, Rodney and Teyla as he stood up but all three noticed that his P-90 was fully in his hand. "Atlantis, this is Sheppard." The Major touched his cheek microphone and Harry got the duel sound as the two merged in his own ears. "No contact and it's still foggy. We'll do some exploring. Contact in three hours. Over."

"_Roger, Major. Contact in three hours. Atlantis Out."_ The Gate shut down a few seconds after the signal died.

"So doctor?" Harry asked their scientist. "Any particular direction you'd like to start in?"

Instead of the snide comment Harry was expecting, Rodney looked down at his databoard for a moment with its atmospheric and energy sensors attached to it. "Nothing." He sighed.

"You can track back to here right?" Harry asked.

"No problem. The transmitter's in the MALP." Rodney waved at the contraption sitting to one side of the Gate innocently.

"Let's go this way then." Sheppard declared and turned in a direct line away from the Gate. A logical choice with the placing of the Stargate.

"If you don't mind, Major?" Harry motioned with his P-90 to one side and got a nod in return. Harry pulled a thermal visor from his pack and slipped it over his head before stepping away from the group and tracking slightly out in front of them. "See you guys later." He turned and saw the four of them lit red on his visors even as the air around him was a dull blue from the slight chill. He slipped into the fog and out of the range of vision though he could see their thermal images easily any time he looked back.

He noticed something as he walked. The ground was dead and the air was dead. There was no colour to anything and no sound. It was like the planet was dead but if there was water for this fog than why wasn't there plants, rivers and so on. Harry paused in his thoughts about an hour or so out and after checking that the group were still far enough from him his eyes turned black.

He reached out without causing even the smallest of drafts. Even the smallest of drafts could cause an imbalance in dead air like this. He felt the drain on his abilities instantly and almost shoved the ability back inside him. It felt like he was trying to start a hurricane in a bottle. Something that as far as he knew was impossible, even for him. He shuddered before thinking back to what he'd just sensed. There wasn't nearly enough water in the air for fog. In fact there wasn't even a trace of it apart from what was coming from himself and the others.

He turned to look at the others as they emerged from the fog like ghosts. "Captain?"

"Still nothing." Harry sighed. "Doctor, correct me if I'm wrong but this doesn't seem right. Why is there no vegetation with so much fog around to feed it and why aren't we all drenched to the bone?"

Rodney looked surprised for a moment before looking down at his screen. "There isn't any water in the air. I don't see how this fog could be here."

"I think it's time we go?" Harry asked Sheppard.

"There is a strange energy reading though." Rodney frowned even as Sheppard nodded his agreement. "Like a power generator but I can't pinpoint it's location."

They tracked back to the Gate with Rodney muttering all the way as he played with his screen. "This is incredible." He declared as they reached the Gate. "The energy is coming from the fog itself."

"Can we use it?" Sheppard asked dubiously.

"Not yet." Rodney told him distractedly.

"Then I'd call this a mission." Sheppard looked at Harry and he nodded his agreement. He didn't really feel right about this place. In fact it was damn creepy. He felt a shiver run up his spine and span slowly with his P-90 out. He pulled down his visor but saw nothing. He looked at Sheppard as he pulled them back up his head and shook his head to say he didn't know.

Rodney was arguing with Sheppard about it being worth their while but Sheppard overrode him and told Ford to dial the Gate. It lit up a few moments later and Rodney cried out even as Harry felt that shiver again. Like something was pulling at him. "Hold on!" Rodney stopped Ford from going through the Gate. "You wanted useful?"

"What are you talking about?" Sheppard asked.

"When the wormhole connected there was a wild fluctuation in the energy field." Rodney lectured. "If I read these numbers right, it looks like the Gate is actually drawing power from the atmosphere."

"So?"

"_So?" _Rodney gaped at him as once again he expected everyone to understand him. "I mean, the best I know, this field goes on for miles. I mean, for all we know it envelops the entire _planet_. We're talking about a _lot_ of energy here!"

"How much is lots?" Sheppard asked.

"What in terms of Joules?" Rodney rolled his eyes.

"In terms of…lots." Sheppard told him.

"Well, _lots_ and lots." Rodney told him. "Enough to open a wormhole back to Earth."

Harry felt that shiver again but this time it was less than the other times. "Major, could we finish this discussion back on Atlantis? They'll be expecting us." Harry motioned to the wormhole which had sat ignored. The control room team would probably be rather worried about now.

"Right." Sheppard nodded and waved Ford and Teyla through. Harry grabbed Rodney by the arm and led him through despite his complaints. Sheppard took up the rear. Harry sighed in relief as he passed through the wormhole and the friendly air back in Atlantis.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Atlantis - an hour later**

Harry had done a quick sweep of the armoury and upper barracks before going to take a shower. He was just emerging into his room with a towel around his waist when his door chimed to show somebody was asking for entrance. He looked down at his bare chest before loudly asking who it was. The Marines were all seasoned in seeing each other in communal changing rooms and Harry was just as untactful about using group showers with Iain and Alex on Kodiak Island. Harry figured that Major Sheppard was just the same in that aspect, they'd all been in the same life style and regardless of Harry's preference for men he didn't batter an eyelid in those situations.

The Scientists on the other hand wouldn't be so happy with Harry opening the door in only a towel. Harry could imagine the look on Elizabeth's face if she stumbled in on him like this. "It's Lieutenant Ford, Sir!" The voice was excited and Harry couldn't help but raise an eyebrow even if he couldn't be seen. He waved his hand over the door lock and instantly the door swished up into the ceiling. Harry turned his back on the Lieutenant and started walking towards his cupboard and his clothes.

"Excuse my state of undress." Harry told him as Ford, seeing his appearance, rushed forwards and shut the door behind him. It was a private corridor but they still shared it with Elizabeth and it was sometimes used by Lieutenant Miller, Rodney, Peter Grodin and Radek to get from their rooms to the stairs.

"That's ok, Sir." Ford assured him unfazed though a bit shocked at finding Harry so naked. Ford locked the door behind him before continuing. "You might want to dress in mission clothing, Sir. I was sent to tell you that we're returning to M5S-224."

Harry turned to look at Ford with a frown. "Why?"

"McKay thinks that fog stuff could give us the needed boost to open a wormhole back to earth." Ford stifled a grin.

"Ah, so that's what's got you so hyperactive." Harry smirked before half turning to drop his towel and change quickly into his clothing for the mission. Ford didn't bother turning to give him privacy. Privacy, self-consciousness and modesty were all things of the past for most military men in their line of work.

"Yes, Sir!" Ford didn't try to deny it. "It'll be great to get back to Earth."

"What?" Harry teased, "Don't you like it out here?"

"It's not that I don't like it." Ford paused. "I just like Earth better."

"Oh really?" Harry paused to look at him. "Sweetheart and family?"

"Family, Sir." Ford told him before visibly getting up the courage as Harry watched him patiently. "You, Sir?"

"Just the friend." Harry told him honestly. "Honestly I like it out here better. It's less complicated."

"Less complicated?" Ford gaped at him.

"Very much so." Harry told him before pretending to think as he pulled on his Sai pouches and sat on the edge of his bed to put on his boots. He'd yet to put on his shirt or jacket but he always did that last. He liked the fresh air on his skin, it reminded him of his powers. "Earth is a surprisingly ruthless place, Lieutenant. More than you know."

"Oh, I've seen plenty of skirmishes." Ford told him.

"I'm not talking about skirmishes, Lieutenant. I'm talking about terrorists that target children. Struggles of power between factions that the public doesn't even know the names of and corrupt politicians who would betray their own military for money and power." Harry told him with a small grin. "Not really things that the Pentagon want Marines to deal with. That's what Major Sheppard and I are for."

"Doing stuff they don't want to admit to?" Ford surmised.

"Exactly, Lieutenant. You're growing up fast out here." Harry teased. "Don't grow up too fast though. You don't want to be like me when you hit my age."

"Sir. I am your age." Ford grinned.

Harry laughed as he finished changing before strolling towards Ford. He walked passed him and on the spur of the moment slung his arm across his shoulders and spun him to walk beside him out the door. "Let's go say hi to home." Harry told him before letting him go to maintain their dignity walking through the halls. Ford grinned at him happily seeing this as a momentous time for the two of them and their growing friendship.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two** **hours later**

"_Atlantis, this is Lieutenant Ford."_ Harry sighed out explosively and leant on the small balcony that ran out from the control room to view the Stargate below them. They'd left almost an hour ago to install the control crystal from their own DHD into the alien planet's one so that they could dial the eighth symbol and reach Earth. Harry had been nervous that Rodney was overly confident in his own skills and he'd been worried about Rodney messing up the other DHD and stranding himself and Ford on the planet for the rest of their admittedly short existence.

"Lieutenant, it's good to hear from you." Harry greeted relieved.

"_Didn't you believe me, Captain?" _Rodney sounded rather offended.

"No." Harry told him bluntly before tuning briefly to the City intercom and pressing down the switch. "Doctor Weir and Major Sheppard to the control room immediately."

Harry talked to Ford for a few minutes until Elizabeth, Sheppard and Teyla walked rapidly into the room. Harry motioned to the established gate with a relieved smile that Sheppard responded to with one of his own. "Rodney?" Elizabeth asked as she linked her own radio into the one being used through the Wormhole.

"_Elizabeth! I'm done." _Rodney told them. "_The crystal's installed in the DHD and as you can see…"_

"Well done." Elizabeth paused only slightly. "What about Energy readings?"

"_Same as before." _Rodney informed them. "_All indications are that the Gate is drawing energy from the atmosphere and there's enough for an eighth symbol."_

"Ok, you stay put. We're on our way." Elizabeth told him before letting the Gate shut down. She motioned to Peter Grodin and he nodded before dialling up the planet again so they could travel through. "So? Shall we?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few minutes later**

Harry watched as the point of origin locked in place as the eighth symbol and the Wormhole swept into existence. It seemed to hold a strange air to Harry, a foreboding that he couldn't shake but he figured it must be just the prospect of speaking with home again even if there was nowhere on Earth that he could really call home.

Harry nodded at Elizabeth as she hit her microphone and spoke through it. "Stargate Command, this is Doctor Elizabeth Weir of the Atlantis Expedition. Do you read?" She frowned when nothing came back. "I repeat, this is Doctor Weir, come in please."

"_This is Sergeant Harriman of Stargate Command. Whoever you are this had better not be a joke." _Harry was the only one that didn't smile outright at the familiar voice. It was just as he remembered it and with no distortion one would expect through a Wormhole across this much space.

"No joke, Sergeant." Elizabeth smiled at everyone around her. "I'm sending my personal IDC for confirmation."

She did just that and it was only a moment later that his voice came back to them. "_Sorry about that, Doctor Weir. We're just a little surprised to hear from you."_

"Understandable."

"_The Iris is open, you're clear to come through."_ Harriman told him.

"Thanks but we're not ready to take a one-way trip." She told him.

"_You don't understand, Doctor." _Harriman was obviously smiling as he spoke. "_Things have changed around here. The Asgard are in the process of fitting Prometheus with engines capable of reaching other galaxies. We were mapping a mission to find out what happened to you."_

"Is he serious?" Ford asked. Harry stared at the hope in his eyes before looking at the others. They all held that same hope but he knew he didn't have even the slightest bit of the emotion in his own expression.

"Are you serious?" Elizabeth asked to be sure.

"_Yes ma'am. Come through now and you could be back in Pegasus inside of a month."_ Harriman told them sealing the deal.

Weir turned to look at them all and Harry saw regret in her eyes. "A month's still a month away from Atlantis." She sighed looking partly regretful. "To be honest I'm nervous about leaving even for just that time."

"I don't mind staying." Harry declared knowing that out of all of them he was the one least desperate to return home. Elizabeth shot him a knowing look.

"That's why I think you should go. We all know you wont leave us here and not return." Sheppard laughed his agreement to her words.

"And you're best suited to tell them what needs to be done to combat the Wraith. You've been their captive and can brief them." Sheppard told him.

"As can you, Sir." Harry told him. "And Teyla."

"The military leader of the expedition shouldn't just leave for a month." Shepard pointed out.

"Nor should the civilian leader." Weir pointed out. "I vote for Harry and Aidan." She declared.

"What about me?" Rodney asked.

"I didn't think you'd want to be parted from exploring the city for a month." Elizabeth told him.

"Oh, right." Rodney frowned giving this some real thought. "Ok, I agree."

"So do I." Sheppard nodded. Harry reluctantly agreed and he and Ford went about receiving all the information they'd need on data boards to take through with them as well as a few personal messages from them all that they promised to deliver.

"Sir, I really don't like the idea of leaving, especially for a month." Harry told him.

"You're the only one I trust to make sure we get the help we need." Sheppard told him confidently. There was no visible regret in his features at having missed the chance to return home. "Maybe you can make Jessica's wedding."

Harry frowned having not thought he'd mentioned her name to anybody. He'd only mentioned her the once as far as he knew and not by name. He shook the feeling off figuring he'd mentioned her somewhere or other. "Well then, if we're coming back by Prometheus I'll make sure my squadron and the Vipers are on board."

"I look forward to it." Sheppard told him and slapped him on the back. "Good luck, Harry."

Harry started internally at the use of his first name. It wasn't in Sheppard character to use anything but surnames when it came to military personnel and the use of his first name made Harry remember _his_ John from his delusions. "Thank you, Sir." Harry nodded before moving to join Ford at the base of the Stargate.

"Stargate Command, this is Captain Potter. Two incoming." He sent his personal IDC just to be on the safe side before stepping through.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Stargate Command - Eight hours later**

Harry and Ford had stepped through the Gate together and were greeted by General O'Neill, Major Carter as well as many different people that Harry didn't recognise. He had saluted them and received determined responses full of respect and welcome.

Ford had spent most of the briefing rather dazed by the idea that he was home so Harry, less effected here than the other man, took control of the briefing and ran the listening men through each of the missions without exaggeration or his own opinions. After that he'd been asked to offer his own ideas on what should be done.

It wasn't until he was done that General O'Neill dismissed everyone except for him and Lieutenant Ford. "You're timing is impeccable, Captain Potter."

"Sir?" Harry asked as he leaned forwards onto the desk.

"We recently received word of a weapons research station in Germany that has us all rather nervous. The Pentagon have been discussing options but your arrival gives us another option." Harry glanced at Ford in surprise and saw confusion on his face. "The decision hasn't yet been made, Captain, so you have a few days before you're needed."

"Sir? What type of facility?" Harry asked.

"A private facility that we have evidence of the Trust's involvement. They're producing chemical weapons." O'Neill told him. "We can't afford a full scale strike against an allied country."

"I understand, Sir." Harry nodded. "Though I don't think the Lieutenant does."

O'Neill seemed surprised at this and Harry carefully covered his confusion over the reaction. People shouldn't be surprised by something like that. O'Neill shouldn't have blurted out something like that so easily. Most of his career had been classified.

"We'll deal with that at a later time." O'Neill covered his mistake. "In the mean time I have some personal news for you, Captain Potter. We received a call a few weeks ago from your next-of-kin. She wanted to tell you the dates of her wedding it seems. I took the message myself but explained that I didn't think you'd be back in time for it."

Harry sighed and saw the look of amusement of O'Neill's face. "General?" Harry prompted.

"I think we won't need you for tomorrow at least and I think you're in need of a party. The wedding is tomorrow morning at ten hundred hours." O'Neill grinned. Harry glanced at his watch and saw it was now getting on to midnight. Travelling between planets really messed up your internal clock. "I think a night in the barracks is in order but you'll have a car at your disposal in the morning."

Harry nodded and thanked him, glad that he'd be able to see Jessica married after all. "What about the Lieutenant?" Harry asked.

"I think I'd rather keep the two of you at hand. He'll stay here for the time being." O'Neill told Ford. "I think I can at least give you both tomorrow to yourselves without interruption."

Harry drummed his fingers on the desk before smiling at the General with his normal lack of discipline. "Is there anywhere on base that we can get formal uniforms?"

"That won't be a problem. Early in the morning I'll have somebody show you to the admin area." O'Neill smirked at him. "Your personal effects are also in storage. I'll have somebody dig them out for tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sir." Harry grinned.

"You're excused, Captain, Lieutenant." O'Neill nodded. "We're grateful for everything you've done."

Harry and Ford took their leave and followed Sergeant Harriman through the base and up through the levels to the officer's barracks. "Sir? What was that about?" Ford asked as they walked along.

"Which part?" Harry asked.

"Well the Germany thing." Ford asked.

"Uh…" Harry paused. "That's classified. I think the General forgot you were there."

Ford shook away his surprise. "Ok then. What about tomorrow?"

"Oh?" Harry shook himself having forgotten to even ask Ford. "Would you like to come to a wedding? I don't really have an invitation but I'm sure she won't mind if I bring a guest."

"You haven't even been invited and you're inviting a guest?" Ford asked.

"She's used to me suddenly appearing." Harry shrugged as they rejoined Harriman in front of two doors. "Sergeant, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?"

"Sir?" Harriman gave his permission with that question.

"I need to find a way to contact a police officer in Colorado Springs. As far as I know his name is Josh and I know he's a detective and has a son in junior school." Harry sighed. "Sorry I don't have more."

"That's ok, Sir." He grinned. "I'll find a number for you." With that Harriman disappeared down the corridor and Harry smiled back at Ford.

"So? Are you going to come or what?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next morning**

Harry stepped out of the Humvee after it pulled to a stop outside The Lily Garden. It was a nice little place with trees, ponds and, more to the point, lilies. It was actually privately owned but the owner of the manor house at one end opened the place up to functions or the public on Sundays. Harry had called Josh in the middle of the night and the man had been ecstatic to discover Harry could make it to the wedding and had told him that Jessica had demanded that they hold it in the park that Jessica knew that Harry loved.

Harry had always like Lilies because of his mother and he loved this garden and according to Josh, Jessica had figured that if Harry couldn't be there then where better to have it. Harry waited on the pavement as Ford, looking rather odd in full blown Marine Uniform, walked around the car and onto the pavement. The car pulled away to find somewhere to park and the two Airmen would find them later at the reception. Harry glanced down at himself self-consciously and straightened his jacket. Ford had convinced him to wear his medals on his uniform citing that it was Jessica's day and he should be all that he could be.

They walked into the grounds and the man at the gate stared at them so much that Harry had to give his name twice before the man snapped back to reality and hastily let them through with a message that Jessica was getting ready in the Vansher suite on the second floor of the manor. They'd hired most of it's public part for the reception so it was to be expected.

"Maybe Jessica wouldn't appreciate more than one guest." Ford said nervously. Harry smiled at him in amusement before looking over the milling guests towards the seats set up for the ceremony. There had to be a hundred and fifty people milling around so Harry sent Ford off in that direction. Ford eyed the gathering before deciding to get himself a drink and disappeared to a tent.

As he disappeared Harry noticed Josh coming out of the house and waved to get his attention, though in his blue uniform he needn't have bothered. Josh ran over as fast as his dignity would allow and he greeted Harry warmly.

"It's good to be here, Josh. Lucky but good." Harry told him anxious to go find Jessica. Josh obviously saw it and smiled gratefully at him.

"She's upstairs, ask inside and one of the caterers will take you up. Was that the Lieutenant Ford you told me about?" Josh asked.

"Uh…yeah." Harry shrugged.

"Don't worry, I'll get somebody to keep him company." Josh assured him before subtly gesturing to the house. Harry grinned at him, shook his hand tightly and walked up and into the rose covered house. He got directions from a caterer and quickly found himself up on the top floor. The room at the end of the hall was the one he wanted and the door was slightly ajar and he could hear Jessica talking nervously on the other side.

He pushed open the door and seeing that everybody was decent with a vague glance he slipped inside and was grateful that his best friend couldn't see him in the mirrors she was staring into. "Olivia!" Jessica groaned. "I feel like I'm about to be sick!"

Harry looked Jessica's sister over. He'd never seen the slim young woman before but knew that Jessica's younger sister was Doctor of Medicine but mostly worked in Medical Research. Jessica was so proud of her only sibling that she frequently talked about her until the point that Harry thought he knew more about Olivia then he did Jessica. "Jessica, don't worry. Everything is perfect out there and you couldn't have picked a better man to marry. If mom and dad were still here they'd only say the same thing."

Jessica hung her head and Harry almost sighed. Their parents had died about six years ago, two years before Harry had met Jessica, from a car accident that was more hit and run than anything else. Jessica had been eighteen at the time and had had to work to see Olivia through the rest of college and into University. "It just feels empty."

"I know you always dreamed of the perfect wedding."

"It's not that." She sighed again. "I know I want mom and dad here but it's Harry too. After I talked to General O'Neill I got my hopes up."

"Well I can give you Captain Potter if you really want him." Harry put in with amusement on his face.

"And how are you going to do that?" Jessica continued talking to her sister even as Olivia turned to stare at Harry. Jessica gasped as she recognised the voice a second too late and she was across the room in a second and Harry found himself with an armful of shrieking woman.

"Just in the nick of time." Harry grinned impishly down at her.

"Harry! What are you doing here?" Jessica stared at him as she pulled away.

"Jess! Your dress!" Olivia flustered and started smoothing the dress down again.

"I could always go back to base if you really don't want me." Harry offered with a lopsided smile.

"Don't you dare!" Jessica grumbled. "How is this possible? Did you get back early? General O'Neill said you probably wouldn't be back in time for the wedding."

"In time for the wedding?" Harry frowned feeling the same way he had back when O'Neill had slipped up with classified information. It's like it was his own thoughts being run and not what would actually happen. He shrugged it off as a momentary sense of disorientation. He had been in the Pegasus Galaxy for a few months after all. "I got back and the General set me up for a day off to come. Advantages of getting myself shot down to save his arse."

"Oh god, Harry! It's so great to have you here!" Jessica told him before remembering her sister. She introduced them.

"It's a pleasure." Harry shook the young woman's hand.

"It's great that you made it. Josh's brother offered to walk Olivia down the Isle and then be Best Man but…" Olivia trailed off.

"Harry?" Jessica finished for her sister. "Would you walk me down the Isle?"

Harry grinned. "I'd love to." This is what he had regretted the most about missing the wedding. Jessica had already told him that Harry would be the one to walk her down to her new husband even though she hadn't met the perfect husband at the time and Harry had regretted not being there. This was perfect timing.

"Alright!" Jessica grinned suddenly more alive than Harry had ever seen her. Olivia shared an amused, yet grateful, smile with Harry before Harry told them he'd come get her once everyone was ready and turned to slip from the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Half an hour later**

The scene went silent as quiet music filled the air and Harry walked with Jessica out across the grass and slowly down the Isle towards where Josh waited with a goofy grin on his face. There was muttering from the crowd and Harry heard a few about Jessica and even a few about himself as they walked passed the guests. To all of them, Harry was a stranger that had suddenly appeared and taken one of the most important roles in Jessica's life.

Harry kissed her cheek gently before leaving her with Josh and his brother Luke in front of the minister before backing away to the spare seat beside Lieutenant Ford in the front row in a pair of seats that had probably been rather hastily cleared just before the wedding. Most of the ceremony was a blur to Harry but as he milled around amongst the guests during the reception he realised something. It was perfect and that, more than anything else, worried him.

Nothing was perfect. This was what he wished for Jessica and if he had anything to say about it then this is what she'd get but it was all too perfect. His sudden return timed perfectly with not only the wedding but with the Trust run facility in Germany. He was needed in too many places and so far he hadn't even had a chance to focus on anything else. Ford too seemed to see it and Harry at least felt that something was right about this place even if it was just one man.

Harry stared at Jessica as she laughed and joked with some of the teachers she worked with while Josh hung at her side with his brother. A spot of wind ruffled through the marquees set up around the field and almost instinctively Harry listened to them with his senses. He shuddered as he was ignored completely. Normally winds ruffled his hair, brushed against his skin whether he controlled them consciously or not. It was an sub-conscious need in Harry for comfort and protection that he had never really dealt with. This wind though completely shunned him.

Not to be outdone, Harry let his power bleed forwards but it felt strange. There was no wind as far as he could tell, there was nothing but dry air. It was the first time that his abilities had let him down. The first time his abilities disagreed with what he eyes could see.

"This isn't right." Harry told Ford without looking at him. "Lieutenant?" Harry turned to find his wayward friend only to find him standing next to him without looking at him. "Ford!" Harry snapped.

"Captain?" Ford looked at him with a smile. "What's the matter? Aren't you enjoying yourself." Harry couldn't place it exactly but there was something wrong with Ford's expression. It wasn't wrong as such, it was just different to the expressions and mannerisms that Ford had used all day. Like the man had suddenly realised he was home even though he'd spent the last day in a sort of relieved daze.

"This is wrong." Harry told him before realising what it was that was nagging at him. That feeling of dry, still air was the same as from the planet. His abilities told him he was still there while his eyes and body told him he was home in the perfect wedding scene that he had regretted missing so much. Even the fact that Sheppard had used his first name proved it to him. Someone was playing with his head and he didn't like it. "Get out of my head!" He hissed.

"What are you talking about?" Ford frowned.

"Lieutenant, I think we're still on the planet. Still in Pegasus. I think something got in our heads." Harry tried to explain.

"That's ridiculous." Ford frowned. "Why would something do that?"

Harry was prevented from answering when he heard a sound he hadn't heard in years and hoped to never hear again. The perfect wedding scene was utterly ruined as figures in black appeared throughout the guests in a series of cracks. Screams filled the air and the sun seemed to dull as if this perfect day had vanished into this chaos. Harry recognised the Death Eaters just as if he was sixteen again and standing on Hogwarts field.

He could only watch in horror as his nightmare became true in front of him. He heard the hiss of air as the blast of green light hung over the party and the first killing curse struck out amongst the screams and struck Olivia in the chest.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**SGC - Gateroom**

Ford stumbled as he suddenly found himself in the Gateroom and he looked around in mild panic until he noticed everyone else was there. John looked him over appraisingly making sure he was ok before turning back on General Hammond, or the alien mist that was pretending to be General Hammond.

"Wait!" Elizabeth frowned from where she stood next to John. "I thought you said that Aidan was with Harry?"

"I'm afraid that your Captain Potter learnt of this deception much as Major Sheppard did." General Hammond told them all. "But he still has a purpose."

"Purpose?" John frowned irritated suddenly that he couldn't find the Captain.

"When travellers use our Stargate sacrifices are made for the good of the whole but we discovered something new in Captain Potter. Something far more vitalising." General Hammond told them. "He has the ability to recharge us like no other that has come before him and we are not ready to give that up just yet."

"What are you talking about?" Rodney glared at the man offended that he didn't understand something.

"Captain Potter said that he felt there was something wrong with the mist." John told Elizabeth completely ignoring the scientist in the group.

"We tried to give him some happiness in the hope that we could manipulate the situation to make him use his abilities but he has become aware of the deception too quickly." General Hammond told him. "We have had to resort to forcing it from him."

"The wedding?" Ford frowned. "What's happening?"

"Wedding, Ford?" John asked.

"We were at his best friend's wedding, Sir." Ford told him. "I was just standing with him when it happened."

"The thing that Captain Potter missed most was his friend's wedding so we created it for him to try to pay him back for the use of his abilities. It is also why we paired Lieutenant Ford with him. To protect him in case something went wrong." General Hammond told them.

"Take us to the wedding." Elizabeth demanded.

"I'm afraid that is no longer possible." General Hammond told them without regret. "He has refused to access his powers regardless of the lose of those he loves."

"That's because he knows they're not real!" John snarled. "What have you done?"

"We are happy to place you back in your bodies but we wish to keep Captain Potter." General Hammond told him.

"Out of the question." John snapped before suddenly realising something. "If he uses his abilities it affects the real world right?"

The General nodded and Elizabeth gasped. "He could kill us all without realising it!"

"That is why you must leave now." The General told them. "Even now he is in a different memory, one where he already used his abilities."

"We're not leaving and if you try to send us back we'll just keep coming back to the planet to try to save him. You're in our heads so you know we would never leave him behind!" John snarled.

General Hammond paused before tilting his head. Elizabeth saw the hesitation. "Let us talk to Harry, maybe there is a peaceful way we can do this. He has to use his abilities some times and surely now that we know about you he can feed the energy to you consciously."

"What energy, Elizabeth?" Rodney tried to enter the conversation.

"You would do such a thing?" The alien-General asked.

"You don't really leave us much of a choice." Elizabeth told him. "Now take us to him before you do permanent mental damage."

"We will not stop the memory but you may go to him." Hammond vanished and a second later their surroundings flashed and reformed into that of the middle of a rainforest. Hammond was nowhere to be seen.

John swore violently as he took in the scene. "Oh crap!"

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"This is brazil. I was on my way here to rescue him when it happened." John told them before motioning to Teyla and Ford to spread out. "Search the buildings. We have to find him."

Even as the first few buildings were searched the wind began to pick up around them and by the time they heard a sound from a low building at the end of the row of huts the wind was almost too strong to walk against. They heard laughter from the end hut and John took off towards it as fast as he could with Ford, Teyla, Elizabeth and Rodney behind him. They burst through the door just as a gun went off.

John saw the man he recognised as Michael Greyly snap backwards and fall to the ground. Harry jerked around where he stood and cold eyes gazed desperately at the body as it jerked as for the second time in his life he watched this man die helplessly. "No!" Harry was oblivious to his new audience and even to the criminals around him that were laughing at him. "You bastards!"

"Harry!" Elizabeth yelled but even as Harry spun on them his eyes went from cold and dark to pitch black. Lightning flashed across his eyes and a few seconds later the building around them was ripped to shreds and flung away in all directions. John felt a wall of air slam into him and he, along with the other four, were thrown away from Harry and Michael's body.

The air seemed to whine around them and Rodney gasped as he stared up from the ground. "We're in the eye of a hurricane!"

John jumped to his feet even as he felt his ears pop. Rodney was right, all around them a wall of debris, dust and leaves were being sucked up into a spiral of spinning air. "He used tornados last time!" John yelled over the noise to Elizabeth.

"He's more powerful now than he was then." Elizabeth told him remembering what Harry had told her.

"This is Captain Potter?" Ford gasped as he helped Rodney to stand.

"He can control the air and create weather systems." Elizabeth yelled back.

"That's incredible!" Rodney gushed. "He must have to lower the pressure here to create a super low pressure cell!"

"Shut up, Rodney!" John snapped at him making him close his mouth suddenly. "This is happening in the real world too! Which means we're slap bang in the middle of whatever he creates and I can tell you he doesn't care what happens to him now!"

"How do you know that?" Rodney asked.

"Because this really happened!" John told him. "That was his childhood friend we just watched die. The mission went wrong and Harry never forgave himself for it!" John shut his mouth as he realised his slip up. Just as Captain Potter had slipped and used his own first name he'd done the same.

"We have to calm him down and talk to him." Elizabeth told them.

"I think we might have trouble reaching him." Teyla pointed back towards the hut almost fifty yards away. Even in the low pressure cell Captain Potter had created, there were strong winds and they spiralled around their creator.

John had an idea of how to snap him out of it and turned to look up. "Hey, I know you can hear me! Get us all back to our bodies. All of us!"

Elizabeth caught his eye and nodded just before there was another disorientating flash and they found themselves lying on the floor around the gate. Captain Potter whimpered slightly before crying out and shooting to his feet. The wind slammed into them all as his senses regained their bearings and the air seemed to moan. John leapt into action before his second in command could lose himself again and jumped across the two metre gap to the three year younger man and grabbed him in a tight hug as he forced Potter to look at him.

"Captain!" John yelled over the wind as he stared into black covered eyes that made him shiver in what he had to admit was a small amount of fear. "You're back! You're not in that dream anymore. Don't kill us all!"

This seemed to snap Captain Potter's disorientation as the black vanished in a flicker and cold, dark green eyes stared at John in pain and confusion. He sucked in a breath and John slowly let go of him.

"What the hell just happened?" Captain Potter asked.

"The mist got into our heads because using the Stargate kills them and they didn't want us to dial Earth." John explained still sticking close. "Your abilities feed and let them re grow so they wanted to force it out of you by throwing you into situations that you'd be forced to use it." The Captain shuddered obviously hiding the worst part of his faked world from the others.

"What now?" Ford asked.

"Now we get back to Atlantis." Elizabeth declared even as Rodney went to work removing the control crystal he had installed on the DHD. "Harry? They said they didn't want to hurt us originally. It was only because you saw through the world they created for you that they had to force you to use your powers."

"We think that just feeding them the energy will help them." John sighed.

"You think I should help them?" Potter sounded surprised. John sighed but nodded. "Ok. You all go through the gate and raise the shield. I'll feed them what I can and come through before it closes."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Atlantis**

Harry was led directly up to the briefing room after arrival and found that Elizabeth had kept the whole team together. Rodney sat fidgeting at the table with Elizabeth, Teyla and Ford on the other sides while Sheppard had evidently been pacing back and forwards across the room though he came to a stop when Harry slumped into one of the chairs tiredly.

"I have only one question." Harry asked. "What the hell just happened to us?"

Elizabeth seemed surprised but then again both the Marine Lieutenant and Air Force Captain had been absent from the explanation. "As far as we were told the mist on that planet is actually a huge mass of sentient creatures. When the gate activates it draws on the mist and kills thousands of them each time. They let travellers come and go to maintain their anonymity but couldn't let us activate a wormhole to the Milky Way because it would have killed millions of their kind."

Harry stared at her in surprise. "So they mentally tortured us?" Harry asked.

"I think they intended to give us a nice life but we all started to realise things were wrong and eventually they got us together to tell us the truth." Elizabeth sighed. "They refused to let us go but Major Sheppard convinced them that if we didn't return our people would just keep sending more and it would be in their best interest to send us home. He agreed."

"But then Ford appeared after being removed from the reality you two evidently shared." Sheppard told him calmly as he leaned against the wall opposite Harry. "He said something about you realising what was happening but that they didn't want to let you go because your abilities feed them and let them grow. He said he wanted to let you use them naturally but after you realised it was all wrong he had to force it from you."

"Well they have a mean way of forcing it from me." Harry told them. "What did you all witness?"

They accepted his avoidance for the time being as Elizabeth started speaking. "I think we all saw the same thing really. Rodney and I were told that the Prometheus had been involved in an accident and that we were stuck there. Teyla, without memories of her own to take from was part of Major Sheppard's reality."

"I worked out it was wrong when dead people started showing up." Sheppard put in calmly.

"I can imagine." Harry agreed.

"What about the wedding, Sir?" Ford asked.

"Wedding?" Rodney asked interested.

"I received a personal note from General O'Neill just after the debriefing and he arranged for myself and Lieutenant Ford to attend my best friend's wedding. It was perfect." Harry stated as if that explained everything.

"What's wrong with perfect?" Rodney asked confused. Sheppard sighed to show he knew what he meant.

"Nothing is that perfect. Us arriving just in time to attend. Everything being exactly the way _I_ would have wanted it for her." Harry sighed. "It was too convenient. When I felt that the air was wrong too I realised that we must still be on the planet since my senses disagreed with what I was seeing."

"What…?" Rodney started but Elizabeth cut him off with a sharp look.

"The wedding?" Elizabeth prompted.

"Just after I voiced my suspicions Ford started acting off and then some rather nasty people from my past appeared and started killing everyone." Harry shuddered. "I found it strangely hard to fight back physically and realised that something wanted me to use my abilities. After I saw someone that I _know_ died at my own hands nine years ago I stopped trying to fight."

"You what?" Sheppard tensed.

"I refused to fight anymore and did nothing as everyone there died." Harry sighed. "I knew by then that it was all fake so I just stepped away from it all. I was knocked out by something after the fight and woke up back in the cell that Michael and I were locked in back in Brazil."

They sat in silence for a moment as Harry shuttered his eyes. When he opened them again they started at the sight of unshed tears in his eyes. He clamped down the impulse to break something. "It played out just as it did before but instead of the smaller storm I created in reality, I pulled up everything I've learnt in the last year and a half and flooded the area."

"You created a hurricane!" Rodney gasped as he leaned across the desk in excitement. "The technology has been theorised. In fact Colonel Carter and I could probably work something out in a few years but to do it without technology is…is… I mean a hurricane!"

"Rodney, I created four hurricanes around the tropical band of the planet." Harry told him and received a startled gasp. "I don't know if I could actually do that in reality but what I did would probably completely destabilise the planet's ecosystem and wipe out a lot."

"You have got to let me run some tests!" Rodney cried eagerly.

"Doctor Weir, Major Sheppard." Harry stated as he stood up. "Would you mind if I excused myself? I need some time on my own."

"As long as you need." Elizabeth told him.

Harry heard the distinct sound of Ford slapping Rodney over the back of the head as he left startling the Marine sentry waiting outside the door patiently. Harry stopped and unloaded his weapons on the man who agreed to get it all stowed away again. He was just getting to the transporter room when Sheppard caught up to him.

"Captain. I…" Sheppard paused. "Do you mind if I keep you company for a while?"

Harry nodded after a moment and stepped into the transporter room and hit the control to take them to the end of the East Pier with it's large flat deck. "Are you going to be ok?" Sheppard asked as they walked along the corridors.

Harry sighed but looked at his senior officer. "I will be, Sir. I've already learned to let Michael go but I need to get the image of my only friend dying out of my head."

"I can understand that." Sheppard chuckled derisively. "Seeing two old friends sitting on my couch when I watched their chopper explode isn't my idea of fun."

They walked in silence for a while longer before Harry paused in their walk. "Thank you, Sir."

"Your welcome." Sheppard told him understanding that he meant the companionship they were sharing. They made their way out to the edge of the pier and Harry sat on the edge with his feet other the edge and Sheppard joined him a moment later. "Elizabeth told Rodney to keep his mouth shut about your powers but agreed to let him test you out."

Harry looked at Sheppard and could see he was nervous about that agreement. "It's ok, Major. I've always been getting stronger and every four months on Earth they tested my limitations and ability to control myself."

"I imagine they didn't want you losing control unexpectedly over Washington or something." Sheppard agreed.

Harry chuckled starting to feel much better about everything now that he had some normalcy. "Besides Rodney could probably come up with something else to try out. It's not just storms I can create. If I know enough about how something works I can normally try it."

"That sounds ominous." Sheppard laughed and they fell into random talk and banter without a care to their ranks or the events of the last day and a half.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	9. Storm

Cast between Worlds

A/N; Shorter chapter this time I'm afraid. Long chapters like the last one are just too hard to write and it makes it harder to update regularly. Still the same as I would have done it though it just doesn't have much after the Storm episodes.

Chapter 9; Storm

**Rodney's lab**

Harry was sitting on one of the hard tables with his feet crossed in front of him. The door was firmly locked keeping his and Rodney's little experiment secret from any of the rest of the expedition. Rodney was sitting by the side of the table behind a desk with his laptop open in front of him and what seemed to Harry to be a hundred different wires running from it to a dozen pieces of equipment.

A number of wires were connected to Harry in all the usual places. He was shirtless allowing the wires to monitor his heart rate, body temperature and a number of other things as well as a dozen wires around his head to monitor his brain patterns and electro-neural levels. The only thing that really changed when he was manipulating the weather and the only thing really harmful to him. From previous tests he knew that it was the electronic pulses in his neural system that actually connected to the systems he manipulated and that was dangerous. Though it had never caused him a real problem before.

"Let's try this again." Rodney told him gesturing to a small glass cylinder he'd set up as soon as Harry had agreed to let him run his tests.

"It's not going to work." Harry told him once again.

"It's not supposed to work." Rodney told him. "It's in the act of trying that I find out what I want to know. I can't have you creating a full blown storm."

"Why not?" Harry asked the eager scientist.

Rodney looked up startlingly. "Because Elizabeth said I can't."

Harry laughed but concentrated on the air in the room and more particularly the air inside the air tight glass chamber filled with little sensors to register changes in pressure, temperature or the electro magnetism. Instead of concentrating on changing the pressure to create a mini-hurricane like Rodney wanted he concentrated on the air molecules themselves and what gave them their temperature. The outside of the glass chamber suddenly started running with water as the air on the inside went cold and misty. Water began to settle in the base of the cylinder.

"What did you do?" Rodney asked half standing up to look into the cylinder as if his results weren't enough.

"Chilled the air." Harry told him.

"Passed the dew point." Rodney told him. "That's incredible."

"I was going for a blizzard." Harry told him.

"Can you do that?"

"Not a clue." Harry laughed. "Was never allowed to try before. I think I'd need several cubic miles of air before I could set up something like that but I don't think people could accept it if I made it snow in the middle of summer."

"But you can make it rain pretty easily." Rodney pointed out.

"I suppose the Athosians don't have to worry about droughts." Harry told him with a sigh.

"So tell me about storms." Rodney told him.

"What type? They work differently you know." Harry grinned.

"I know that!" Rodney sighed as if talking to a child. "What about cloud based ones? Thunderstorms."

"That's the same as what I just did." Harry told him. "Moving moisture in the air in certain ways makes the lightning so just changing the moisture in an area can charge a cloud from being a normal rain cloud to a lightning capable one."

"That's what you did against the Hive ship?" Rodney asked.

"Been talking to Elizabeth?" Harry asked, Rodney didn't answer so Harry continued. "That was a bit different, I had to pull in the clouds throughout the area and condense them. All that moisture blowing together provided the charge."

"What about the tornados?"

"I can't really control them that much." Harry told him. "I can create a storm system capable of them and push it to the edge to create a tornado or a dozen of them but once they're formed all I can do is feed them or stop them. I can't tell them where to go."

"Can you tell thunderstorms where to go?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "I can only build them up in an area and create wind to push the clouds in a particular direction but if I push too hard the wind starts to break the clouds apart. I've never forced the lightning to hit a certain target either. I suppose it's possible if I could create opposite charges in the area to attract the lightning."

"You can do that?"

"Theoretically electronic manipulation is possible for me but I've never done it before." Harry sighed. "That creature we discovered was much better at it."

"Don't remind me." Rodney shuddered. "So you can create and stop thunderstorms and tornados and similar things but not control them? What about hurricane systems?"

"That's large scale." Harry told him. "It takes a lot of effort and time to build them up. I have to constantly move air in a massive area to create a low pressure cell and then have to constantly add to it to maintain it. Controlling it's direction works in the same way. I just lower the pressure on one side and it moves that way."

"What about size?" Rodney asked looking rather eager.

"It works the same for all of them. I have to constantly feed the small ones and it tires me out. Like if I tried to create a hurricane in a small room. It's hard to do." Harry explained. "Take a hurricane for example. I have to constantly feed the smaller ones with energy to keep them going or they neutralize themselves and fade. But there are three stages to every storm I create."

Rodney pulled up his laptop and looked intently at Harry. "Three stages?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "The first stages is the Unsustainable stage where I have to constantly feed energy into it."

"Or it dissipates?" Rodney asked.

"Right." Harry nodded. "In the middle is the Sustainable stage where I can sit back and watch it happily pleased with its destruction."

"And they're more powerful then the Unsustainable ones?" Rodney asked.

"Definitely." Harry nodded. "We're talking natural looking hurricanes, large scale and they don't go away until I destabilise them or nature finally shifts to counter them."

"And above that?"

"Right." Harry bit his lip. "I've never pushed to create one but the President wanted me to."

"And you didn't?" Rodney seemed surprised.

"The Queen of England is aware of my abilities and I'm dual nationality, meaning if they do anything to risk my life they have to have her permission as well." Harry explained.

"Risk your life?" Rodney frowned.

"As soon as I force a storm through the upper barrier into the Self-sustaining phase it gets nasty." Harry explained. "It takes a life of its own beyond what is natural. I have to flood it with my own energy to stop it from becoming too big."

"How big are we talking?" Rodney asked listening intently.

"I suppose if I lost control of one in the wrong place on Earth I could create an Ice Age." Harry guessed.

"But you wouldn't lose control of it?" Rodney asked.

"It depends on if I can force it back below the barrier into Sustainable before I run out of energy." Harry explained. "If I can't then it would just continue growing until something is done to sustain it."

"Which could be?" Rodney asked.

"Ever heard of the Zeus project?" Harry asked. "A way of using a nuclear explosion to destabilise a hurricane. It was planned that if I ever lost control of one on Earth they'd use a nuclear war head to attempt to destabilise it."

"What about you?" Rodney asked.

"If I ever pushed a storm into the upper stages I'd have to constantly fight it to keep it at a controllable level. The larger I let it get the harder that would be." Harry explained. "I've accidentally pushed that border once before and my electro-neural levels jumped. Theoretically the longer I'm in that stage the further off balance those levels could get."

"So you could go into a coma?" Rodney asked.

"If it doesn't kill me outright." Harry shrugged. "Not something I really plan on ever doing."

"I wasn't even going to suggest trying that."

"So, what do you have planned next?" Harry asked.

"A couple of things." Rodney explained. "I want to see what happens to your body when you monitor the weather around a large area."

"Like the planet?" Harry asked. "I can't pick up a storm on the other side of the planet but I can pick up the effect it has on this side."

"Kind of like a warning system?" Rodney asked.

"Sure. You'd have to go and look to be sure but it's a good warning." Harry told him. "What else?"

"I was thinking about trying for something that could power the city." Rodney bit his lip. "A weather system has a lot of energy and by what I'm reading on my sensors you're not actually feeding the weather yourself but rather directing the energy already there. If you can direct it into something we can take from it could be very useful for us."

"Sounds interesting." Harry mused. "And if we get it wrong I bring a hurricane down in the middle of the city and wipe us all out."

"Well, yes. There is that." Rodney rolled his eyes. "Let's see what happens with the first test. See if you can find out what the weather is like somewhere far away."

"Looking for beach time are you?" Harry teased.

"Funny Captain." Rodney was looking down at his screen. Harry lay back on the bed and got comfortable before letting his eyes flash back to their cloudy black colour as he delved into what the air wanted to tell him. A breeze ruffled the hairs on his skin and goose bumps formed on his skin. A soft smile graced his lips.

Harry reached out through the city and listening solely to what the outer air could tell him about the world. What he found worried him. The wind was moving steadily in a westerly direction which wasn't all that strange except it wasn't even similar to the weather patterns he'd noticed before. He reached out further and with a jolt felt his powers try to connect to something so far away he couldn't even sense it. It was massive. The system he could just sense the edge of suggested something that took up half the globe.

He sat up with a gasp and started yanking off the wires connected to him. "Your electro-neurals spiked just then." Rodney told him.

"I'm not surprised." Harry told him. "We need to go find a Puddle Jumper."

"Why?" Rodney asked and followed Harry up as he stood and grabbed his shirt and jacket. He pulled them on before clipping his radio over his ear.

"Doctor Weir?" He asked into the scientists frequency.

_"Captain?"_ She asked, sticking to surnames on the net.

"We've got a not so small problem. Please meet me in the control room."

_"I'll be there in a few minutes." _She promised. Harry was already out of the door leaving Rodney to catch up.

"What is it, Captain?" Rodney snapped. He didn't like not being the first to understand something.

"I sensed the edge of something that could become a problem." Harry explained. "Something on the upper edge of the Sustainable Field."

"As in?" Rodney asked.

"I'm not sure but it was enough to spike my electro-neurals which I don't like." Harry told him. "I'm guessing a hurricane."

"Coming this way?" Rodney frowned.

"If you'd stop talking and walk faster we'd be that much closer to finding that out." Harry told him. A few silent minutes later Harry entered the control room. "Where's Major Sheppard?"

"He's on a trip to the main land." Peter Grodin answered straight away just as Elizabeth walked in.

"See if you can raise him for me." Harry told the man before pulling Elizabeth to the side to talk privately. "I sensed something building up on the other side of the main land. A hurricane and a big one."

"You didn't..." Elizabeth started. Harry's eyes narrowed. "Ok, no you didn't."

"I wouldn't." Harry told her. "I couldn't sense the actual thing, it's too far away and I can't really connect to it without hurting myself. It's too powerful. We need someone to have a look at it."

"Major Sheppard and Teyla are on their way to the mainland." Elizabeth nodded and led Harry back to Peter at the controls.

"Captain? Major Sheppard is on the comm."

"Major?" Harry asked. "What's your ETA to visual of the mainland?"

_"A few seconds."_Major Sheppard responded after a moment to check his sensors. _"What do you need?"_

"A weather check, Major." Harry explained. "Doctor McKay and I found something interesting in one of the labs' records which worries me."

Harry knew the Major knew he was lying but neither would call him on it. It was also clear that Peter and the other control room personnel knew he was covering for something but they all knew what classified was. _"It looks calm out here."_ Sheppard told him.

"Go orbital, Major and have a look westward beyond the continent." Harry told him.

_"Give us a minute." _Sheppard was obviously doing something and Harry waited patiently for a moment as the Puddle Jumper broke atmosphere and levelled off in orbit with a better view of the planet. _"That can't be a storm!"_

"Major?" Elizabeth frowned as she spoke.

_"That's huge!"_ Sheppard told them.

"How big is it Major?" Harry asked.

_"It must cover twenty percent of the planet!"_ Sheppard told him.

"Can the Puddle Jumper predict its route?" Harry asked cutting through the bubble of talking in the control room.

_"It's tracking straight for the settlement and then to Atlantis."_ Sheppard told him bluntly.

"Major, I need you to record everything into the Puddle Jumper, do as many scans as you can but especially on the pressure zones near the centre." Harry told him. "Get that back to us as soon as you can."

_"You got it, Captain."_ Sheppard told him. Harry turned to Elizabeth and frowned.

"Once we have that information we're going to need to look at our options." Harry made it clear what he meant. A private conversation where only those that knew about Harry's abilities were present.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Conference room**

Harry sat at the conference table with Elizabeth on one side and Sheppard on the other. Ford sat opposite him with Teyla between him and the Major. The only other people in the room were Rodney and Zelenka and the door was firmly shut. Harry, Sheppard and Elizabeth had had a quick whispered conversation with Rodney after Harry, Rodney and Zelenka had gone through the results of the Puddle Jumper's scans and come to the conclusion that Zelenka deserved to know everything that was at their disposal. Which meant Elizabeth was giving Harry permission to tell the second-in-charge scientist about his ability.

"This planet is basically the same size as Earth." Rodney was explaining to those that didn't know everything about hurricanes. "Now, hurricanes on Earth never get as big as this bad boy because once they hit the shore, the brakes get put on. Without as much landmass to slow it down here, it's just gaining momentum."

"Both of them are." Zelenka added.

"_Both _ of them?" Elizabeth's eyes widened and Sheppard sat up straighter.

"We saw only one." Teyla pointed out.

"You have to know what to look for." Harry told her. "The scans show two but they are so close together they look like one with the normal eye."

"Now, according to the Ancient database, every twenty or thirty years the sea gets unseasonably warm. Now that, for reasons too boring to get into, means that hurricanes are much more likely to occur." Zelenka made to interrupt but Rodney cut him off. "Like I said, too boring to go into. Basically, when there's a bunch of them out there it's more likely for two of them to collide. That's what's happening."

"It's more like a merger than a collision. They are intersecting and combining their power." Zelenka told them all.

"And it's heading right towards us." Rodney continued.

"What about the continent?" Sheppard asked. "You said that the land on Earth stops them."

"It'll slow it down but only fractionally." Harry spoke up before Rodney could piss people off with something belittling.

"You said this happens every twenty or thirty years. Surely the Ancients would have some sort of precaution in place." Elizabeth prompted.

"In the past, the Ancients would have been protected by the shield or would have submerged deep enough in the water not to be affected." Rodney explained.

"Ok, strike those options and what else do we have?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney looked at Zelenka who just look back. They both looked blankly back at the audience. "Nothing." Zelenka sighed. "It is a real threat. The high winds alone could wreak havoc."

"Harry?" Elizabeth turned to him. Harry sighed and motioned Rodney and Zelenka to sit down.

"I'll start by saying there is very little I can do." Harry told them bluntly. "Doctor Zelenka, you're the only one in this room that doesn't know this but you're about to get higher security clearance but you must know that you cannot discuss this with anybody outside of this room and keep the questions till when we're not threatened with destruction."

"Of course." Zelenka blinked in surprise.

"I have the rather unique ability to manipulate the atmosphere and with that I can create weather shifts." Harry briefly told him. "Rodney can explain more about it later but simply put I can create hurricanes, thunderstorms and blizzards with very little effort and no technology whatsoever."

"Can you handle that for the time being, Doctor Zelenka?" Elizabeth asked.

"I..." Zelenka muttered under his breath for a moment in Czech before nodding up at Harry. "For the time being."

"Good." Harry nodded before turning to the rest. "There is nothing I can do about the storm itself. If I try to manipulate it directly it would be like putting my finger into a high voltage socket. It is natural and fully sustained. It'll take weeks to dissipate on its own and I can't change that. Redirecting it and slowing it is an option but not a brilliant one."

"Can you shift it away from the mainland?" Teyla asked.

"Not a chance. It'll slow when it hits the land but not by much and under normal circumstances it takes thousands of miles to shift a large hurricane let alone this one. I'd have to make a low pressure trough that curves slowly away from the equator." Harry explained.

"Wait." Ford stopped him. "Why away from the equator?"

"It's the curve of the earth." Rodney stepped in. "It pushes air around but nothing crosses the equator. Forcing the hurricane to cross the equator would be like trying to run around the planet faster than it's spinning."

Harry frowned at the example but shook his head to continue. "That's also the problem between the mainland and Atlantis. The hurricane will already turn northwards once it hits the water and that turns it slightly closer to Atlantis. I can't turn it back to the equator but if I try to turn it fast we'll end up with the centre right over Atlantis."

"Is that better or worse?" Sheppard asked.

"It's like dropping a nuke on a house." Harry told him.

"So outskirts is better?" Sheppard asked.

"Outskirts would be like dropping a cruise missile on a house." Harry told him. "With a storm that big it really doesn't matter. Atlantis will be wiped out either way. If the strong winds don't rip it apart, the storm surge will overwhelm it, and that's not even taking into account the lightning and the debris it picks up on the mainland."

"So we're screwed either way." Ford spoke up before biting his lip as Elizabeth, Harry and Sheppard all looked at him. "Sorry."

Harry flashed him a quick grin. "There is only one thing I can do. I can create a massive high pressure cell, an anti-cyclone, between us and the hurricane."

"What will that do?" Sheppard asked.

"It would force the front edge of the storm to destabilise and cause the main low pressure cell to slow." Harry explained. "Buying us some more time to evacuate."

"Ok, so what's the catch?" Sheppard asked.

Harry winced. "I'd have to draw more air into the area which would eventually be added to the wall of air circling the low pressure cell. I'd basically slow it down so it could feed and grow. When it got here it would be larger and more destructive."

"One nuke is the same as any other nuke." Rodney pointed out. "Time is good."

"Creating a high pressure cell of that magnitude this close to a low pressure cell like we have will mean constantly feeding my energy into it. As soon as I stopped the whole thing would collapse and it'd probably kill me to do it." Harry continued without expression. They all stared at him.

"I'd say that was too high a risk just to buy some time." Sheppard declared as if warning people to even try to argue with him.

"So exactly what sort of damage are we looking at here?" Elizabeth asked.

"I've probably seen the most hurricanes." Harry stepped in before Rodney and Zelenka could over exaggerate things. Though that would be hard in this situation. "We'll expect the front edge of the hurricane proper in about twelve hours. About eight hours before that we'll have strong winds, a couple hours after that it'll be dangerous for anybody to be outside. Just in front of the hurricane proper we'll have a thunderstorm like you can't imagine. If the winds and lightning don't destroy the buildings the edge of the hurricane pushes a storm surge before it."

"What's that?" Teyla asked.

"We're talking a hundred foot high wall of water that will completely cover the piers in water, flood it and sink it." Harry told her bluntly. "That's a certainty. The hurricane itself won't be able to do much damage once the city's underwater though."

"Very funny, Harry." Elizabeth glared at him.

"Better than being torn to shreds by the actual hurricane." Harry shrugged.

"You're not helping." Elizabeth told him before turning to Rodney and Zelenka. "What's the plan."

"Like Captain Potter said, we have twelve hours." Rodney told her. "So we plan...to have a plan by then."

"Get to it." Elizabeth nodded.

"I'll be with them if you need me." Harry told her before standing to follow the two scientists from the room. It was going to be a long few hours.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hours later**

Harry stood leaning on the balcony outside the lab where all of the scientists were working together to try to come up with a solution. Harry had gotten tired of all of their arguments about what to do. So far the only mildly useful solution was to power the structural shields with the naquada generators but that wasn't really a solution since that would only save a single section.

Major Sheppard had managed to negotiate passage to the Menarian home world for a few days but that wouldn't help them in the long run. Overall this was the biggest disaster they could have come up with. Harry had come out here to think as soon as Elizabeth, Sheppard and Ford had left to help out with their own evacuations. He enjoyed the wind blowing around the city even though it was merely the front edge of the storm that would destroy Atlantis.

The door opened behind him and he glanced around to see Zelenka and Rodney braving the wind to see what he was doing. He heard yet another snapshot of the useless argument inside. Harry turned back to the western horizon and the dark clouds looming there. What they really needed was massive amounts of power. Harry frowned as he thought about it like the military man he was. You shouldn't try to use something that you couldn't get a hold of, it was better to just stop hoping and use what you had.

So what did they have? A dead city, a lot of annoying scientists, fifty marines, hundreds of Athosians and a massive storm coming straight at them. Harry jerked and looked up at the storm just as a tiny flicker of lightning lit a small patch of the sky. That was it, they had a dead city and a massively powerful storm. Wasn't it Rodney that had suggested just that morning that they find a way to harness Harry's ability for more than just creating storms. That storm had thousands of megawatts of power, more than enough to run the shield.

"Rodney." Harry turned to look at the man who was arguing with Zelenka yet again. "Rodney!"

"What?" Rodney rolled his eyes at him.

"I've thought of something." Harry told him. "A way of getting the power we need."

"Oh and you're just going to magic it up right?" Rodney sighed.

Harry gestured out to the east. "I don't need to." His eyes glinted in amusement. "It's right there."

Rodney frowned and looked first at the horizon and then at Zelenka before realisation dawned on them both. "The hurricane?"

"Is there a way of channelling the lightning straight into the shield generators?" Harry prompted, he didn't like only having half a plan.

"Through the lightning conductors." Zelenka muttered more to himself than anybody else. Harry already knew about the lightning conductors since he'd looked for such things early on in his expedition.

"So we can?" Harry asked.

"Shut up for a moment would you!?" Rodney ordered. "If we disconnected the grounding stations..."

"...and let the power flow straight into the shield generators..." Zelenka helped him out.

"One shield." Rodney grinned.

"So...?" Harry prompted getting rather irritated now.

"I think you're on to something." Rodney nodded. "You and Zelenka find the schematics for the grounding stations and meet me up in the control room."

"Of course Sir." Harry rolled his eyes even as Rodney turned and walked back into the room of arguing scientists while Zelenka gave him a congratulatory smile and motioned to the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry had just changed into full tactical gear and armed himself with his Sai and pistol and was walking out of his room when Major Sheppard saw him and called out to him. "Good catch." Sheppard told him.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean the lightning?"

"Yeah, you got one over on Rodney. I'd give you a medal for that one." Sheppard laughed.

"I've got two medals more than I want, Major." Harry told him with the smallest of winces. "As for the lightning, I'm an Astramaniac. Of course I'd be the first one to think of it."

Sheppard laughed and the two walked together to find Elizabeth and Rodney. They found them talking in Rodney's lab. "Finally!" Rodney glared at them.

"If we can't do this we'll be evacuating off world, would you have preferred us not to be in combat gear, Doctor McKay?" Harry asked shutting up his complaints.

"Right." Rodney narrowed his eyes before turning back to the screen of his laptop that showed a schematic of the city. "There are hundreds of lightning rods throughout the city."

"Why?" Sheppard asked.

"Why what?" Rodney frowned.

"Why are there hundreds of lightning rods placed around the city?" Sheppard asked. "Wouldn't the shield protect against lightning?"

"Yes it would." Rodney sighed. "But running the shield all the time is good for only one thing...using power."

"Right." Sheppard nodded his understanding.

"You're aware there is a time element to what we're doing right?" Rodney shook his head.

"It's been brought to my attention." Sheppard pointed out dryly.

"Sir, please stop winding him up." Harry spoke up. Sheppard eyed him for a moment before sighing in defeat. Harry shared an amused look with Elizabeth before Rodney continued.

"Like I was saying. There are hundreds of lightning rods throughout the city." Rodney explained. "As it stands now, all that power is routed to four grounding stations. In turn the stations ground all that energy into the ocean below."

"So instead of sending all that energy into the ocean..." Sheppard prompted.

"We use it to power the shield." Rodney nodded.

"How?" Elizabeth asked.

"By directing it through the corridors of the city and into the shield generator." Rodney told them as if that was the simple part.

"The city can handle that right?" Harry spoke up.

"Yes...theoretically." Rodney bit his lip.

"Like dinosaurs turned into birds theoretically or theory of relativity theoretically?" Sheppard asked.

"Uh...somewhere in between." Rodney told him though it was clear Sheppard really didn't know what that meant. Harry didn't have a clue either. "Elizabeth you take grounding station two. Major you take three and Captain you take four."

"And where is three?" Sheppard asked.

"Or four?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Here and here." Rodney told them and pointed to the edge of the city schematic. "I need to get done quickly so I can get onto the subroutines and Elizabeth was complaining about her knee the other day..."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the man. "The nearest transporter?"

"Elizabeth's and mine are close to transporters." Rodney admitted.

"Up to a couple mile jog, Major?" Harry asked.

"Thrilled." Sheppard rolled his eyes.

"I was worried you were going to get flabby." Harry pointed out.

"Radio me as soon as you get there." Rodney told him.

"And guys?" Harry started before they could leave. "Stay inside. Those clouds are teetering on the edge of lightning already."

"Noted." Sheppard nodded.

Harry jogged with Sheppard as far as the transporter but they'd take different transporter destinations to reach where they were going. Sheppard would reach his at least five minutes before Harry and then start back. Apart from two Marines waiting in the control room they were the only ones left apart from Carsen, Ford, Teyla and three Athosians still on their way back from the mainland.

Harry listened in as Rodney explained to Sheppard how to decouple the grounding station and knew where everyone was when Elizabeth called them both.

_"Major, Captain? Apparently we have wounded incoming."_ Elizabeth told them. Harry clicked his microphone to let Sheppard know he'd heard but let the other man do the talking.

_"Doesn't make sense." _Sheppard replied. _"They said it was Wraith related?"_

_"We'll ask them ourselves in a moment. Hold on." _Elizabeth went quiet but she was still transmitting. _"What the hell is going on!?"_

Harry heard a scuffle and came to an abrupt stop. _"Doctor Elizabeth Weir." _A man spoke from away from the microphone. Harry turned up his earpiece to hear better.

_"Yes."_ Elizabeth's voice was loud in his ear.

_"And you must be Doctor McKay."_ The man continued.

_"That's him." _A woman declared with hatred in her voice.

_"Where is Major Sheppard?" _The man asked. _"I'd like to know where he is."_

_"You seem to know a lot about us."_ Elizabeth asked. _"Who are you?"_

_"They're Genii."_ Rodney spat angrily but Harry only heard him through Elizabeth's microphone.

_"There is only one thing you need to know, Doctor Weir."_ The man continued. _"As of right now we are in control of Atlantis."_

There was a scuffle on the other end of the line and eventually Harry heard the connection die. _"Captain. Scramble one."_

Harry pulled his radio from belt and changed the settings using the secondary frequency. "Major?"

_"Yeah, Captain. Where are you?"_

"About two hundred metres from the end of the North Pier." Harry reported.

_"You heard all of that?" _Sheppard was speaking in a carefully controlled tone that made Harry grit his teeth. He felt the same anger. He'd heard the shock in Elizabeth's voice and knew that nothing good had happened to the two Marines in the Gateroom.

"They wouldn't try to take Atlantis without at least a twelve man team if they think we're empty." Harry told him. "Even so we need weapons."

_"Agreed. Get to the armoury. Secure what we need and wait for me there. I'm going for the Jumper Bay to get us some __life sign detectors__ and to try to raise Ford on the comm."_ Sheppard told him.

"Roger that. Potter Out." Harry cut the connection and spun back to face the centre of the city. He unclipped his pistol. This was his kind of fight. He'd done it when Markham's team had been captured and he was doing it again now. This was what he'd been trained for. No hesitation warfare whether it was in a plane or on the ground.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Armoury**

_"Elizabeth, just give him what he needs."_ Harry grinned as he crouched in the corner of the armoury. He was fully kitted out for a war, he hadn't bothered with food since they'd be dead in a matter of hours if he and Sheppard didn't succeed but he had an M40-A3 sniper on his back, a P-90 in his hands and smoke bombs and grenades in his backpack. He also had a P-90 and supplies ready for Sheppard when he arrived. He'd been hiding in the corner so he could see somebody arrive before they saw him when the city's speakers had come to life and Rodney had started speaking. _"He needs the C4, the medical supplies and the Wraith Data Device, just give them to him. None of that is worth dying for."_

The connection cut instantly but Harry almost laughed. Clever man. Harry stood slowly and after checking the corridor was clear he started piling all the C4 into another backpack as well as the Wraith Data Device and then put as much of the medical supplies too dangerous to leave lying about into another bag.

He then took a second radio and began taking apart the face plate. By the time Sheppard arrived he'd rewired it so that it could only listen and transmit on one frequency. That way they could talk to these Genii on their own frequency without having them listen in on the one that he and Sheppard would use.

"You heard then?" Sheppard asked.

"The C4 and the Data Device are in one bag, the medical supplies that Carsen would kill us for losing are in the other." Harry told him. "I didn't think we'd be needing the Wraith Stunners."

Harry left the option open but the steely look Sheppard gave him told him the thought of letting these men go hadn't even crossed his mind. "We shot to kill." Sheppard told him.

"I can do that." Harry nodded. "Let's get clear of here and hid these in the city."

"Roger." Sheppard nodded though he looked rather worried.

"Sir, don't worry. Between the two of us they don't stand a chance. We have the home ground, the better weapons, the better training. All they have is numbers." Harry told him.

"And Elizabeth and Rodney." Sheppard gritted his teeth.

"We have the reason for him being here. That's one point for Rodney I suppose. He's evened our position." Harry told him.

"Ford and Teyla will get here as soon as possible but they're right in the middle of the storm." Sheppard told him.

"It's just the two of us then." Harry nodded and flashed a quick smile at Sheppard. Harry was surprised when his eyes met Sheppard's and he realised he was looking at the eyes of _his_ John and not just his senior officer. Sheppard saw something there too since he didn't look away. Harry found himself wishing they weren't in a hostage situation in another galaxy. He shook his head slightly and looked away and almost missed the flash of disappointment that crossed Sheppard's face as Harry drew himself up to begin a war.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The first thing he and Sheppard did was to hide the C4, medical supplies and data device in a place where they didn't think even Rodney would find. It was a small alcove with a broken floor in the Eastern pier. They didn't hide it under the floor though but forced open the ceiling before hiding the bags inside the ceiling and resealing the panel without any sign of entry.

They were headed back to the central towers when their radios came to life. _"This is Commander Kolya."_ The man from before declared.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Sheppard who smirked back before pressing the switch on the side of his ear piece to talk. "Kolya... that's a hard name to pronounce. Is that a first name?" Sheppard teased with faked humour, believable only if you couldn't see the harsh look on his face. "My name's Major John Sheppard and I have hidden the C4 where you will never...I repeat, never... find it. When I get confirmation that the prisoners have been safely released and allowed to gate off Atlantis, I will help you find it."

_"Your offer is very generous, Major."_

"Yes it is." Sheppard nodded to himself.

_"However, Doctor McKay recently shared with me that there's a plan in action to save Atlantis."_ Kolya told them. Harry bit his lip, McKay was a bit of a wimp but it would have taken some painful persuasion to force that from him. _"My understanding is there is one final grounding station that needs to be deactivated. Uncouple the grounding rods at Station __four__, assist with the reactivation of the shield, and you and your friends can leave here unharmed."_

"Wait a minute." Sheppard narrowed his eyes as the tables were turned. "I thought all you wanted was the C4 and a Jumper."

_"Why raid a city when you can seize it, Major?" _Kolya asked. _"Atlantis will be ours or the ocean__'__s, you choose."_

The line went dead and Harry turned to Sheppard. "Personally I'd rather see it at the bottom of the ocean then in the Genii's hands but we're not there yet."

"You have a plan I take it?" Sheppard asked.

Harry grinned nastily and turned to head for his own grounding station once again. "Obviously McKay didn't tell them about me which means we have an advantage. They haven't worked out how to use internal sensors but we have the hand held ones. So we thin them down, get into the control room to use our access codes to block incoming wormholes so they can't bring in reinforcements and then take out the rest of them."

"And undoubtedly he's about to send some of his men to capture me at the grounding station." Sheppard nodded. "I can work with that."

"How are you at acting meek, Major?" Harry asked with a bit of amusement shining in his eyes. Their eyes met for a moment and Sheppard mirrored the look before nodding in determination.

"Let's get going." Sheppard ordered. They both broke into a loping run.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry lurked on a ledge above the grounding station. He was only just above the doors but he had a good view over the area. Sheppard was standing in front of the console waiting patiently and two Genii soldiers appeared slowly through the door and spread out to watch what he did. Undoubtedly they'd wait until Sheppard deactivated the grounding station before moving to capture him. Sheppard glanced down at the life signs detector in his hand before moving away from the console.

The bait worked. As soon as the soldiers thought Sheppard would notice them one of them ran into the room properly. Sheppard shot him in the chest and he went down before Sheppard ducked for cover before the second soldier could see him. The soldier fired wildly into the room but Harry dropped down behind him and with a deft twist killed him instantly with one of his Sai's into the back of the man's neck.

Harry joined Sheppard in the main part of the room as he cleaned his Sai on a torn bit of the soldier's clothing. Sheppard nodded at him but grimaced as he saw the damage the soldiers had wreaked. They'd shot through the control panel. Sheppard sighed before switching on his radio. "Let me tell you what you did wrong here, Kolya." Sheppard sneered. "A; You lost two of your men. B; You damaged the switch before I could deactivate it, which I'm sure you'll get an earful for from McKay and C; You lost whatever credibility you had with me."

_"You killed two of my men?"_ Kolya snarled.

"I guess that makes us even." Sheppard hissed.

_"I don't like even."_ Kolya told him. Harry tensed up but stayed silent.

"I'm not finished yet!" Sheppard warned him.

_"Neither am I. Say goodbye to Doctor Weir."_

"The city has a self-destruct button. You hurt her and I'll activate it." Sheppard threatened.

_"Even if it exists, Major, you need at least two s__enior personnel to activate it...__ and I'm about to take one of them out of the equation.__"_

"Kolya! Kolya!" Sheppard yelled down the radio. Harry watched on silently. "I'll give you a ship. I'll fly it out of here myself! Kolya!"

They were met by almost a minute of silence before the radio kicked back in. _"Major Sheppard, how is this for credibil__ity?__ Weir is dead."_

"I am going to kill you." Sheppard hissed, his words sent a shiver down Harry's spine. This was Sheppard's black ops. training coming to the for. Sheppard hid his better than Harry but the same cold core was in both of them.

_"Maybe,"_ Kolya told him. _"Stay out of my way or McKay will join her."_

Sheppard leaned on the railing and breathed in great gasps of air as Harry watched on silently. "Time to do some serious damage." Harry told him.

"Doing damage is what got Elizabeth killed." Sheppard told him.

"No," Harry stepped forwards and grabbed Sheppard's shoulder, forced him around to look at him and pushed him back by his tactical vest. "Kolya killed Elizabeth. That shouldn't change what we do. We stick with the plan."

A cold frost seemed to take over Sheppard's eyes and Harry found himself wishing for the warmth back. Sheppard nodded though and forced Harry away. "I'll kill him."

"Major." Harry warned. "Keep your cool."

"Captain, I don't need you telling me how to do this." Sheppard told him.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I'm just saying that if we have to do something you don't like it would be best that I did it."

"And why is that?" Sheppard asked.

Harry shook his head and turned to the door. "At least we've pulled Kolya out from the control room. It'll make it easier to disrupt things."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The two split up not long after that heading out into two different piers. They'd stolen the radios from the two soldiers they'd killed and with them knew what their movements were.

Harry had just listened as the control room evidently found out how to use the internal sensors though they hadn't yet expanded it away from the central towers so hadn't seen him as of yet. He'd listened to Sheppard's brief battle with three of the soldiers and their rather noisy deaths but then got a surprise when Sheppard reported that he had five of them following him.

_"I'm going to head for the generator for the control room." _Sheppard told him. _"I'll take the central span, think you can take out a few of them?"_

"Easy pickings." Harry told him before stopping at the window. He'd been on his way to the generator himself to cut their internal sensors but if he could get outside he'd have a shot at only five hundred yards at Sheppard's pursuers.

He got out onto the roof without much problem and swapped his P-90 for his M40-A3 before he lay out on the hard surface and began making adjustments using the scope to measure the distance more accurately. He was just making adjustments to his sight for the steady harsh wind when Sheppard ran out across the span. It was only about a fifty yard span but by the time he was three quarters of the way across it five soldiers ran out on his tail. Harry waited until they were in the centre of the span before he took his first shot. Allowing for their running he fired a couple of yards ahead and the first shot slammed straight through the man's head jerking him right out off the span and down onto the pier below. A second fell before they realised their leader had died.

Their mistake was that they tried to take cover and only the last one managed to report sniper fire before Harry killed him leaving four soldiers dead on the bridge and another at the bottom of the towers.

_"What the hell is happening__ Laden!?" _Kolya called on their own radios.

_"We had a team tracking Major Sheppard but he led them into an ambush."_ Laden, presumably, reported. _"There's another one of the Atlanteans out there. Wait... we have him out on the eastern pier."_

_"Can you take him out before he kills more?"_ Kolya asked.

_"Men are already in the area."_ Harry was moving even as Laden began giving orders to close in on him. He ran down through his tower to the pier knowing he'd be able to outrun them in the harsh weather that he could push and shove to give him a slight advantage. He'd almost run for five minutes when shadows slipped out of a building about a hundred yards in front of him. Harry crouched in a water gutter to look behind him and saw the three coming up behind him. He could kill one group but he'd be shot in the back before he could turn.

_"Captain? How's things going?"_ Sheppard asked on their private line.

"A bit sticky, got three on my tail and three up ahead and nowhere to run." Harry reported honestly.

_"I'm by the main generator."_ Sheppard told him regretfully.

"No sweat, Major. I can handle these guys but it's going to hurt. Just kill the power so they can't send more at us and then continue with the plan." Harry told him.

_"You're not just bluffing me, Captain?" _Sheppard asked. _"Can you take them?"_

"With so much power over my head I can do anything to these people." Harry told him honestly.

_"Captain?"_ Sheppard paused. _"Be careful."_

Harry didn't respond but could hear the nervous chatter of Laden directing the soldiers through the storm towards him. Harry ducked down into the trough that bled rain water passed his ankles and his eyes flashed black. There was an almighty crack above him as Harry did something on complete instinct. He turned the air around the soldiers into lightning attracting ions before shoving the thunderstorm above them over the edge. Lightning crashed throughout the city sending an ominous rumble through the city until two lightning bolts struck the pier to either side of him right in the middle of the soldiers.

Harry released the storm and the lightning strikes retreated back to where they were before, out to the west. He stood slowly and staggered at the effort it had taken to force the storm up that small notch and surveyed the burnt out corpses of the six trackers.

_"Command."_ The Genii's radio reported. _"We just lost those six men on the other Atlantean in those lightning strikes."_

_"The Atlantean is Captain Potter according to Doctor McKay." _Kolya hissed. _"Did he survive the strikes?"_

_"Yes sir but he's not doing anything."_ Harry listened to them talk as he crouched in the rain with the smell of burned flesh surrounding him rather unpleasantly.

_"And Major Sheppard?"_ Kolya was beginning to lose his cool.

_"He's just standing in one of the generator rooms." _Harry watched the central tower and laughed when the lights blinked out. The was a moments silence. _"Commander. Major Sheppard has cut power to the control room."_

_"Can you still track him or Captain Potter?" _Kolya asked.

_"No." _This time it was a woman's voice.

_"Then we have no idea where they are." _Kolya hissed. _"Is the control room secure?"_

_"Yes, Commander." _The woman reported. _"May I suggest we send men to guard the remaining generators?"_

_"No, they're trying to separate us. Just close Stargate Operations and wait for reinforcements to arrive."_ Kolya ordered.

_"Understood."_ The woman responded.

It was time to get up to the control room and do some more blatant damage while Sheppard mucked around with stalling Kolya.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry and Sheppard definitely stepped it up from there. Harry went straight to the control room and lurked where he wouldn't be found while Sheppard got into position in case this went wrong. When the Stargate came to life and the woman, Sora, and the only two soldiers left the control room to meet them Harry made his move. He crept up silently on Laden and seeing no reason to kill what was obviously a scientist he simply drew his pistol and smacked him on the back of the head. Laden fell to the ground with a thud just as the first two soldiers came through.

Three more came through as Harry was working but they would be all that came through. He raised the shield and locked it in place, freezing all of their systems with his own access code. The shield came up and with a sudden thud three soldiers were killed instantly. "Shut it off Laden!" Sora turned to look up at him and her eyes widened as she saw Harry. Harry ducked away and ran with the sound of bullets striking where he'd just been standing.

A part of him mused as he ran through the halls. He was glad that it had been him to kill all of the incoming Genii rather than any other member of the team. Sheppard could have done it but part of Harry didn't want Sheppard to bloody his hands to the rest of the expedition. Harry was the cold, uncaring one that could kill dozens but Sheppard was the saviour of the expedition, always kind and friendly and Harry liked that about him even if he knew there was a colder, darker side to him.

Harry came up short and harshly crushed those sudden thoughts deep inside him. He couldn't have himself distracted, especially with feelings bordering on attraction to a senior officer, when they were stranded in the Pegasus Galaxy.

A few minutes later Harry came to a stop half way down the tower. Now that they had things more contained with only a few men left for the enemy they could hide in the central tower. He'd paused because Kolya was talking to the Major again. _"Major Sheppard. I have a proposition for you."_

_"Kolya. I'm having a hard time keeping up."_ Sheppard teased. _"What's the score again?"_

_"My men have informed me that not only have you disabled several critical generators."_ Kolya told him. _"But you've stolen key parts that are needed to repair them."_

_"Yeah I did that."_ Sheppard agreed.

_"There are two flaws to your plan."_ Kolya pointed out. _"One, the assumption that I would believe that you would rather destroy the city than let us have it. It is childish."_

_"That doesn't sound like me."_ Sheppard agreed.

_"Second. If I decide Atlantis to be unsalvageable then Doctor McKay and Doctor Weir become obsolete."_ Harry narrowed his eyes at the proof that Elizabeth was still alive.

_"Weir's alive?"_ Sheppard's anger was clear in his voice.

_"Doctor McKay was able to make a strong case for keeping her alive."_

_"Let me talk to her."_ Sheppard demanded. Harry stayed silent.

_"Sheppard! We're both here."_ Elizabeth announced after a moment.

_"It's a relief to hear your voice."_ Sheppard told her. Harry had to agree. It made this situation just a little brighter.

_"We have less than an hour until the storm hits full force. If power is not restored to grounding station three within ten minutes then Doctor Weir dies."_ Kolya threatened.

_"Again you mean?" _Sheppard hissed.

_"Her death will buy you another ten minutes. After which, should the power still be out, Doctor McKay dies. We will then leave with what we can and the city will be destroyed." _Kolya warned. _"If you don't mind destroying Atlantis then stay where you are for twenty minutes. Starting now."_

Harry swore but was already running down through the corridors and through the halls to the generator that Sheppard would have to get to. Sheppard arrived before him and as Harry slunk around the corner with his P-90 raised he noticed the two guards pointing guns at Sheppard's back and also figures at the end of the hall. Harry just saw Ford's face before he turned back to the matter at hand.

He fired on automatic and the two Soldier died very quickly. Harry stepped out into the hall and walked down towards the advancing trio. Teyla and Ford were being cautious but Carsen was as useful in these situations as any other scientist. "After this is over I'm going to sleep." Harry told Sheppard who laughed at him before turning to reinsert the reactor modulator into the top of the generator.

"Are you both ok?" Ford asked as Sheppard joined them in the corridor.

"I've been better...I've been worse. My shoulder's a little sore." Sheppard admitted. Harry just shrugged.

"You want me to have a look at that?" Carsen offered.

"Take a rain check, Doc." Sheppard told him before turning to Harry. "Glad to see you're ok."

"No problem. I think I'm winning this contest going on between us and Kolya though." Harry told him.

"Perhaps me should move. More soldiers will come this way soon." Teyla suggested.

"I couldn't agree more." Carsen told them. Harry shook his head before scouting down the hall.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry left Sheppard and the others with his own mission in mind. While Sheppard attacked with Ford from one direction and Carsen and Teyla from another, Harry planned to come in from the floor below. The balcony that led into the control room was accessible from the recreational room two floors below. It took a while but Harry managed to get a grapple up onto the balcony railing. After making sure it was secure he started to climb the rope.

Once at the top he reported in. "Major, I'm in position."

_"So are we, but Teyla and Carsen aren't responding."_ Sheppard replied quickly. Harry leaned around and risked a glance into the control room taking in everything in a second. Rodney and Elizabeth were both struggling against captors. _"Captain, the __Stargate's__ dialling out."_

"Roger, Major. Kolya, Laden and two more guards are in the control room. They look like they're going to take the Doctor's with them." Harry reported.

_"Follow them out of the control room."_ Sheppard ordered. Harry waited for the last possible moment before slipping into the control room just as the last of them walked out the other side. Harry slid through the room as Kolya led Elizabeth and the others down the steps.

Rodney was talking loudly but he stopped suddenly as Harry let loose with his two Sai at the Major's order. They sunk deep into the backs of the two men holding Rodney in place. Harry's P-90 was in his hands a second later even as Ford and Sheppard turned the corner and killed the last three soldiers in the room. Harry took two steps forwards even as Kolya grabbed Elizabeth to use her as a shield between himself, Sheppard and Harry. Harry pulled Rodney backwards rather harshly and Rodney fell onto the steps but started crawling up them without complaint.

"You're not going anywhere." Sheppard warned Kolya. "I will shoot you if you don't let her go."

"And risk hitting her?" Kolya leered as he backed both himself and Elizabeth towards the Stargate.

Sheppard took a slight step to his left leaving Harry a clearer shot in invitation. Harry braced himself even as Kolya moved Elizabeth slightly further to his right to block Sheppard from shooting her. "I'm not aiming at her." Sheppard pointed out without losing a beat in the conversation.

Harry fired. His shot passed well clear of Elizabeth's smaller frame and hit Kolya just between his collar bone and shoulder bone. He jerked and let go of Elizabeth before he fell back through the Stargate. Elizabeth dropped to her knees rather ungraciously.

Harry went with Sheppard to Elizabeth side. "Sorry about that." Harry apologised. "Are you ok?"

"No." She chuckled even as she let Sheppard help her up.

"You will be." Sheppard told her. "Come on."

Harry and Ford followed the two up to the control room where, to his credit, Rodney was working on the computer. "Wait!" Ford ordered. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I'd activate the shield and save the day." Rodney retorted. "You got something else in mind?"

"Teyla and Beckett are still out there." Ford told him.

"The tracking system's down and there's a Tsunami coming towards us. In two and a half minutes they're dead." Rodney told them.

"Then give them two minutes." Sheppard ordered. Harry nodded his agreement and leaned tiredly back on the railing. Sheppard joined him a moment later and the two enjoyed a moment of camaraderie for what they'd both had to do to keep their friends safe. A few minutes later, Teyla came in with the Genii, Sora, at her side and Carsen hanging between them though still conscious. Ford look Carsen off of them.

"Go." Elizabeth ordered.

"Going." Rodney started working even as Harry crossed the room and pulled Sora away from the others. He checked her over removing a blade from her boot before he shoved her down into a chair and rather obviously stood beside her with his P-90 pointing at her. She eyed him nervously but Harry simply glared back at her.

"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked when nothing happened.

"It's working. It just needs to build up enough power for the shield generator to activate. Wait for it." Rodney assured them. A long moment passed before Rodney sighed. "Now!"

A hum suddenly started and Harry swayed as a shield expanded over the entire city forcing the air and wind within to spiral strangely. Harry turned to the East to look out of the window in time to see a huge wall of water crash against the shield which glowed white as it parted the wave to either side of the city. He sighed out in relief.

"Nice work, Rodney." Elizabeth complimented.

"Did you ever doubt me?" Rodney grinned.

"Yes." Elizabeth told him. "Several times."

"I see you made a new friend, Teyla." Sheppard spoke up.

"Perhaps we should lock her up for the time being." Harry spoke up. His voice was cold and his eyes distant though he hadn't succumbed to the desire to delve into his powers. It would be a rough half day for him as the storm passed over.

"Are you ok?" Elizabeth asked.

"Just tired." He told her eyeing Carsen who, along with Sora, were the only ones in the room that didn't know about him. Elizabeth seemed to catch on.

"Perhaps you should get some sleep?" Elizabeth offered, not really knowing what Harry would want to do in this situation.

"I think some sleep would help." Harry nodded.

"Ford, see him down to his room." Sheppard ordered. Harry shot him a thankful look which he returned.

Harry would dream of hurricanes, thunderstorms and even _his_ Sheppard that night. Slowly the difference between Major Sheppard and his hallucination was starting to crumble.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	10. Misbegotten Infatuations

Cast between Worlds

Chapter 10; Misbegotten Infatuations

**Gym – Atlantis**

Harry twisted, easily dodging Sora's strike, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her passed him and off balance before turning slowly. He had yet been in trouble and they'd spent an entire week of mornings sparring against each other. She fought with her entire being, her mind, heart and every ounce of energy and it made her easy to predict. She kicked at him but Harry stepped out of the way and grabbed her foot before stepping forwards to unbalance her. She tried to hop to regain it but Harry took the opportunity, lifted her and slammed her down onto the ground with his hand on her collar bone.

He glanced at Teyla with raised eyebrows before stepping away and rolling his arms, knowing that his Helly pulled tight across his chest. "It's the same. You try too hard and put every you have into every strike as if every move you make is the killing blow. You need to learn to fight an opponent not to kill them."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"You can't kill somebody without fighting them." Teyla told her.

"Besides, you're current method doesn't seem to be doing you any good." Harry told her. "You've yet to provide a challenge."

She went red in the face. "Don't take offence to that Sora." Teyla stepped in. "Captain Potter is an excellent warrior." Harry smiled at her and slipped out letting Teyla and Sora talk together without interruption. It was still early so he headed back to his own room for a shower before heading up to the control room along with the wallet of information that Rodney had printed for him.

"How is Major Sheppard's mission?" He asked Grodin.

"Everything was to plan on the last check up thirty minutes ago." Grodin told him. "Did you want me to request an update?"

"Oh no." Harry shook his head. "I'll be in the firing range this morning and then out on the east pier with the Marines. You can contact me if anything crops up."

"Yes, Sir." He nodded. Harry left the room and headed for the canteen where he served himself and sat down opposite a still rather sleepy looking Ford and an amused Elizabeth. He eyed them both before looking at Ford. "Lieutenant? Looking forward to our drills later?"

"Urgh!" Ford groaned before realising who he was talking to. "Sorry, Captain. Yes, Sir."

Elizabeth laughed at him. "I'm glad I'm not included in this."

"Well, you know, Elizabeth. Major Sheppard and I were planning on making the scientists do the same thing." Harry grinned at her as he started in on his food. "We'd probably cut down on the level but still..."

He trailed off and she looked at him closely, thoughtfully. "Can you make us do that?"

"Yup." Harry grinned. "Well, Major Sheppard can. The ranking military officer is responsible for maintaining a satisfactory level of fitness amongst all members of the expedition. It says so in the guidelines."

"John read the guidelines?" Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up.

Harry snorted. "Of course he didn't."

"You did?" She pressed.

Harry laughed. "Definitely not. Sergeant Bates brought up the condition of the scientists and brought it to my attention." He explained. "All most of you do is work in your labs, eat and sleep. It's not healthy. If we're going to be here long term maybe we should arrange for time on the mainland. Maybe a few hunting trips with the Athosians as guides."

"You're going over to the mainland tonight, right?" Elizabeth asked. Harry nodded. "You can bring it up with Halling. It might be good for relations."

"Hmm..." Harry nodded and turned and opened the wallet to his previous page.

"What's that?" Ford asked. Harry glanced up at him and chuckled.

"Science stuff about electro-magnetic storms." Harry told him. "Rodney found it for me, he wants to try a little experiment and I need to know everything about them before I can try."

He didn't say it out loud but both knew about his weather manipulating abilities. "You think that's possible?" Elizabeth asked.

"Rodney's been going on about how stupid the scientists are back on Earth for not suggesting it." Harry rolled his eyes. "You should hear him, he's like an excited child."

"Sucks to be you." Ford laughed before going red again as Harry and Elizabeth looked at him in amusement.

"Just for that, Lieutenant, you'll be the one that has to beat my scores." Harry told him with an evil glint.

"Which ones?" Ford asked with a wince.

"Let me think. Short range, target shooting and let's add shuttles into that one too." Harry told him with a serious face." Ford groaned and pushed away his plate and put his head down on the table.

"Here's to hoping the Wraith attack today." Ford muttered making Harry wink at Elizabeth. Harry kept the Marines active putting them through drills to maintain their aim since ammo was a limited resource. They had several drills, short range shooting inside, a long range sniper drill and finally a number of physical trials. This week's was shuttle runs. There were a few half hearted complaints but Bates agreed with Harry that since they were confined to the city they needed to make sure they were ready for anything.

Harry finished off his breakfast while reading his material before he gathered it up and headed out with Ford at his side, heading for the indoor shooting range down within the lower section of the tower. Apart from Major Sheppard and the four on duty in the Gateroom every Marine was there.

"I bet you're all looking forward to this." Harry grinned at them all as he walked into the room and they all turned to look at him dubiously. "Should be fun."

"I noted how the Major managed to find himself a mission to get out of it." Sergeant Markham muttered, making no effort to keep his voice low.

Harry laughed. "And Lieutenant Ford has kindly offered to compare his scores against mine." Everybody smirked at their officer, only just trying to hide their amusement. "I'm sure he's eager."

Ford sighed dramatically and the test began. They all had their targets to unload ten shots against and they all proved their worth to the expedition with their speed and accuracy. When Harry and Ford came to their turn, last of all, the target was changed to the cut outs of two men. Sketched over as if they were pointing guns at them so that the shape of the gun was blacked out with small targets like the chest and hands that were hard to hit.

"Six shots, five seconds." Harry announced. "One to each knee cap, one to each hand, heart and forehead. Score by closest to each."

Ford watched him for a moment but accepted the pistol Sergeant Bates handed him. They both opened the magazines and checked the rounds and then cocked them, just like all the others had. Harry held his gun loosely, honing his entire body to the world around him, it wasn't just himself, the gun and the target like most others preferred, but everything in the room. He took in the floor, the walls, the ceiling and all of the other Marines around him as well.

When Bates started the test Harry lifted the gun even as Ford fired his first two shots at the knees of his own target. Harry fired six times with only two brief pauses and finished at the same time as Ford before he dumped the magazine, caught it with his off hand and turned around. He handed his gun to Bates before grinning at Ford who was shaking his head. Harry had won. They'd hit their targets almost perfectly. Harry's shots weren't just closer to perfect, they were on the dot whereas Ford had clipped his target's left hand when aiming for the heart and his last shot to the head was slightly up to the left.

"You're aim is excellent, Lieutenant." Harry said after looking his target over.

"Not as good as yours." Ford complained. "You were barely trying."

"Perhaps it's more that you were trying too much." Harry chuckled. "So, who's up for something difficult?"

The bond between all the Marines were growing. It was long passed the point where there was any tension between the Marines and their Air Force commanders, especially after Harry and Major Sheppard had cleared the city of a superior force by themselves.

They went outside with the two M40-A3 sniper rifles and Harry gave them three shots each. They were only doing shots at half a mile and most could hit the target without much trouble. When it came to Harry he took the shot from a knee rather than lying out on the ground. The move made it much harder to accurately shoot since he had to take the shot while controlling his entire body. As per the rules Ford had to take the same shot and his shot clipped the bottom of the target which was still rather good for somebody who'd never taken a shot at that range with those restrictions before.

They went in for lunch and gathered out on the east pier after an hour or so of free time. The watch had swapped around so he had a few Marines that he hadn't had that morning. He also had six of the scientists, including Lieutenant Miller, who had requested the chance to compare themselves to the Marines. They were the few scientists who really looked after themselves.

Harry set them all to warming up and made his way out onto the pier to set up two heavy tapes to mark the edge of the shuttles. He warmed himself up in the same way he warmed up for his morning exercises, finishing off with a back flip that amused the Marines immensely. He was among the few with a lithe build amongst them.

They lined up and Harry blew his whistle to start them off. He'd simply signal each of the runs, he wasn't pushing them beyond their limits. This exercise was for another purpose, to let the Marines vent off some steam. It was almost an hour later before Harry called a stop and only a few had gone off for a run around the outside of the pier before he signalled the end. Harry led the rest on a slow jog before cooling down. As he stretched he looked up to see Elizabeth approaching with Teyla at her side. Teyla flashed him a smile and Harry stood upright to greet them.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"I'm worried about John's team." Elizabeth told him. "We had to lose contact when he went down to the surface but I'm not comfortable with him being so far away without help in the area."

"So you want me to take a Jumper and go over in case?" Harry asked. "It's a long way to go when there might be nothing wrong."

"You don't think we should?" Elizabeth seemed surprised.

"Of course I think we should." Harry chuckled. "I just wanted to see if you realised how paranoid you sound."

"Harry..." Elizabeth sighed and he grinned at her.

Harry turned. "Ford! Get showered, suited up and to the Jumper Bay as soon as you can." Ford sketched a mock salute and went running. "Teyla? You're with me. We'll be gone in twenty minutes, Elizabeth."

She nodded and Harry turned to dismiss the Marines back to their duties. Something told him that the sooner they left the better.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Jumper Two – almost sixteen hours later**

Harry slowly settled the ship on course and activated the ship's autopilot to keep it on track. Only Rodney, Major Sheppard and himself could control the ship and the other two men were in no condition to do anything right now. Harry left Ford and Teyla in the cockpit before he headed into the back section and shut the door to give the sleeping Rodney some peace and quiet while Ford and Teyla chatted together.

Major Sheppard was sitting on the bench opposite where Rodney was lain out and he had his elbows on his knees and his head hanging low. Harry winced as he realised he was looking over his fellow officer's form, the fine arch of his back and the smooth skin of the exposed back of his neck. He shook himself out of it and crouched in front of him. "I'm sorry about Abrams and Gaul." Harry told him softly.

"We ran into it." He sighed.

"It was only one Wraith." Harry told him making him snap his head up to look at him in horror. Harry shook his head. "I don't mean it like that. I mean that if it took you so long to kill him then nobody could have done anything more."

 "Thanks." The Major sighed out and hung his head again. "You'd have done better though."

"How?" Harry asked.

"You could have..." He looked up and made flickering motions with his fingers. "And blasted him."

Harry laughed and shook his head. "It's not the answer to everything you know."

The Major looked at him and Harry couldn't turn away even if he'd wanted to. Sheppard blinked a few times and a small smile spread across his face. Harry stood before he could end up smiling back and turned. "You're shirt's looking a little ratty." Harry told him as he pulled a bag from the storage compartment. "You can put on a spare one and while you're at it you can let me look at your arm."

The Major sat up straighter before glancing at his arm. The bullet had gone straight through and it was just a flesh wound but it did need looking at, especially with a fifteen hour journey before Carsen could get a look at him. He slowly pulled his Helly over his head and Harry moved to sit beside him. Sheppard tried to turn to look at him but Harry pushed his other shoulder to turn him back forward so his injured arm was towards him. Harry couldn't help but take a moment to look over Sheppard's defined chest and flat stomach and he surprised himself by allowing himself that moment before he concentrated solely on cleaning and closing the wound with a loose hold knowing that Carsen would want to redo it himself at a later time.

He helped his senior officer into the clean top before handing him a sling to rest his arm in. "Get some sleep, Sir." Harry told him.

"Is that an order?" Sheppard grinned at him.

"Yes, Sir." Harry grinned at him.

Sheppard twisted around and lay back along the chair, resting his feet flat on the seat so his legs were bent. "I know it's against protocol, Captain, but this is an odd situation. Why don't we try John for a while?"

Harry frowned as he looked down at him from next to his knees. "Odd situation?" Harry asked, unsure whether he meant Harry's attraction or something else.

"I mean the whole 'stuck in another galaxy' thing." He pointed out.

Harry paused thoughtfully. They'd had it drilled into them in Black Ops that you didn't get close enough to another operative to use their first name. You used their surnames when you couldn't use their ranks. Things with Iain, Clare and Alex had been different because the other three were pilots with only the basics in ground combat. Harry and the Major were cut from the same mould, they wore a shield of ice around their hearts but hid that coldness with a warm exterior that came across normally as irresponsibility and a casual disregard for authority. But even with all of that, the Major was a kindred spirit out here. None of the others in the expedition understood their strange personalities and Harry couldn't help but want to be close to the Major and since Sheppard had been the one to suggest it, it almost seemed to be permission for Harry to be attracted to him.

"Alright, John." Harry shot him a small grin and watched as John sighed in relief. "Get some rest."

"Thanks, Harry."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry had finished his morning spar with Teyla and John and even finished a jog around the city with John before taking a shower and heading for Rodney's lab. "You're up late." Rodney told him as he walked inside. "And you say that scientists are lazy."

"I never said scientists are lazy, Rodney." Harry countered. "I said _you_ were lazy. Beside's I've already spent an hour sparring with Teyla and Major Sheppard and then went for a five mile run, what about you?"

Rodney narrowed his eyes at him. "Sit on the table."

"Yes, Sir." Harry laughed but did as told. Rodney grabbed the normal diodes and Harry pulled his shirt over his head so that Rodney could connect the little sensors to his chest, spine and neck and then around his head. "And what's the task today?"

"I've been thinking about how you've been having trouble creating an electro-magnetic storm and I think I've found out why." Rodney explained. "You've never witnessed one."

"Right...?" Harry pressed.

"Well you know the theory behind one but you've never felt it like you told me you felt that storm when you were learning to use your abilities." Rodney explained. "Well I want to try exposing you to a very small electro-magnetic pulse so you can try to mimic it."

"You want to..." Harry frowned. "What?"

"I brought an EM generator with us." Rodney was going on. "You never know when something like that might come in handy. Just a small field and then you might be able to alter it while it's running."

"You're sure about this?" Harry asked.

"Of course I am." Rodney scoffed. "What? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I don't!" Harry laughed. "Let's get it over and done with and hope you don't blow up Atlantis in the process."

"Technically it doesn't affect..." Rodney started.

"Rodney!" Harry shouted over him. "Just do it."

Rodney shrugged and headed to a short cylinder about half a metre in diameter and about a metre long that was set on top of one of his lab tables and started tapping away at its controls. Harry felt it even before Rodney stepped away and headed for his computer. "There we go. Can you feel anything?" Rodney glanced up when Harry didn't answer and saw that Harry's eyes had gone almost solid black like they usually did. He shuddered at the sight of the Air Force Captain with thick storm clouds in his eyes. "Captain!?"

Harry's eyes flickered as if a green sun was coming through the clouds and suddenly Rodney was looking at a slightly less scary version of their intrepid Captain. "What?"

"Could you sense anything?" Rodney repeated.

"Of course I did." Harry told him bluntly. "The air's charged like water being shaken up inside a fizzy drinks bottle."

"Do you think you can manipulate it?" Rodney asked. "The pulse isn't more than a foot from the outside of the device, see if you can spread the effect to these sensors here." Rodney pointed at a couple of diodes on the end of his own table, as far from his laptop as possible.

Harry delved into his powers again, feeling the air around the generator. It was hard to describe what he actually did when he created storms, really he willed it to happen and the air moved to obey him, it took some knowledge of the fundamentals but a lot of it was instinct and experience. This time he knew before hand that the electro-magnetic pulse was an explosion of erratically spiralling free electrons. In practice he could see the generator causing the electrons in the air to spiral which created the electro-magnetic pulse.

Harry concentrated on the calmer air around the field and envisioned the same thing happening to the electrons there. What he didn't think about rather foolishly was that what he did always had an effect elsewhere. He was used to thinking about that but this time he simply tried to manipulate one small bit of the field, just adding a new area to the area effected but instead of just creating that he felt a shift in the air so profound his eyes snapped open in time to see a small burst of flickering light in the middle of the room and then a dull thump against his eardrums before everything electrical in the room blinked out of existence.

"Whoa!" Rodney was on his feet, staring at where the light had flickered, "I said small!"

Harry stood without thinking but his knees failed on him and he collapsed to the ground, feeling dizzy, his eyes unfocussed slightly but he got himself under control and stood up again with Rodney's help. "That was small." Harry defended himself. "Or at least I was aiming for small."

"You're electro-neuro levels spiked before that burst." Rodney told him. "Clearly it takes more out of you than we guessed.

"_You_ guessed." Harry complained. "I didn't say a thing."

"Are you okay?" Rodney asked worriedly as Harry swayed on his feet.

"Carsen, now." Harry told him and sat on the edge of the table.

"Uh...right." Rodney grabbed for his radio. "Doctor Beckett, could you join me in my lab?"

_"I'm a bit busy, Rodney."_ Carsen's voice was clear even as Harry lay back on the table and let his eyes unfocus as he stared at the ceiling.

"I'm not calling for the sake of it, Carsen." Rodney complained irritably as he tried to reboot his laptop.

_"Right."_ Carsen obviously heard something in his voice. _"I'll be there in a minute."_

Harry was feeling a lot better when Carsen arrived with a med kit. "What in the hell happened?" Carsen yelled, looking at Harry shirtless and covered in wires.

"Please, Doc, don't yell." Harry muttered. "I've got a headache."

Carsen appeared over him. "And what exactly were you doing?"

"Just fix me." Harry complained.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

Harry had the honour of staying in one of the private rooms that had been designated part of the infirmary. He'd been put to bed by Carsen and strapped up to a machine to keep track of his slowly normalising electro-neural levels. When he tried to get up in the morning to shower and change into normal clothes one of Carsen's rather diligent nurses had told him off and forced him to stay in bed.

Harry gave her a rather nasty 'Don't you know what I'm capable off?' look but she'd just smirked at him and left the room. It was ten more minutes before Elizabeth, John, Rodney and Carsen had walked into the room. By that time Harry had gotten up, changed into his clothes from the day before, and taken to sitting in the window. Carsen glared at him and wheeled the machine over to reconnect the wires to his head.

"I'm fine, Carsen." Harry told him. His headache was gone and the dizziness from before was only a memory.

"Imagine not telling me this!" Carsen turned to look at the other three, seemingly unwilling to take his outrage out on a patient. "And experimenting without proper medical supervision."

"I take it you told him then?" Harry asked Elizabeth dryly.

"He wouldn't stop ranting." John shut his mouth quickly when Carsen glared at him.

"As Chief Medical Officer I should have been aware of any abnormalities..."

"Carsen! That's just not nice." Harry interrupted.

"I didn't mean it like that." Carsen defended. "But what would have happened if you'd hurt yourself in an emergency situation and nobody had told me? I wouldn't have known how to help you."

"It was just a spike, Carsen." Rodney pointed out. "He said that whenever he overextends it spikes. It was normal."

"Really, Doctor." Harry stood up when Carsen went to argue. "It was more that it took a different type of manipulation to cause the effect and I wasn't prepared for the loss of energy."

"The point is, now we know he can do it and how much he is capable of." Rodney pointed out. "It could really be useful."

"What I'm capable of?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows. "You can work that out from our experiment?"

"Well no." Rodney glanced around. "I was hoping you'd tell us."

"Not a clue." Harry shrugged. "It takes experimentation to determine limits and I have no experience with electro-magnetic storms. I don't know if they can become sustainable or how they could maintain themselves. I don't know if there is a difference between the pulse I created or a storm and I don't know whether the strain on me will be reasonably proportional to the size of the creation or exponential. I also don't know whether I could counter a sustained storm once created. Anything else?"

John, Carsen and Elizabeth were staring at him in confusion while Rodney was staring at him in surprise. "What the hell did he just say?" John asked everybody before looking at Harry. "Couldn't you have just left it at 'not a clue'?"

Harry shrugged. Elizabeth shook her head. "Let's not experiment for the time being. Rodney and Zelenka can work on a simulation from the data that the city's internal sensors recorded but for the meantime I think we should take it easy."

"I agree." Carsen nodded. "And I don't want any more experiments done without my personal supervision."

"Fine." Harry shrugged. "Can I go?"

"Yeah..." Carsen muttered without thinking. "What? Wait!"

Harry was already walking out with an amused John at his side. He wanted to go for a run before he found an excuse to go to the mainland that afternoon.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later – Mainland**

Harry signalled to Markham as he crouched on the ground just to the side of a tree. He and the Sergeant had joined Halling and his son, Jinto, on a hunting expedition. Elizabeth had given Harry the chance to get away and relax since he was among the few that hadn't taken any time away since coming out here. He'd asked Markham to join him since among all the Marines he showed the most promise with a sniper rifle.

The Athosians had been careful to hunt evenly around the area and with the help of the Atlantis team and their Puddle Jumpers they'd been able to hunt all over the continent so they didn't affect the local wildlife too much.

Harry crawled forwards with Halling on his left and Markham on the right. Harry was armed only with a pistol and his Sai at the moment since they weren't really in any danger with Markham with the M40-A3 and Halling and Jinto with bows. They hadn't even brought any P-90's with them even if there were two in Jumper two. They were on a cliff that Harry had spotted on the cloaked flyover where they'd found the herd of deer that Halling felt was suitable to hunt.

Harry crawled right to the edge and peered over the edge. There was a broad plain below them but the cliff was rocky and sloped down rather than fell off so they'd be able to walk down if they needed to. Markham set up the legs of the sniper but Harry stopped him. "If you can shoot without the supports you're better off." He whispered. Markham nodded and set himself up to support the barrel with his own arm. Harry turned to Halling. "How would you prefer to do this?"

"Well if we are to teach these to hunt properly then they must do it." Halling nodded to him. "You have hunted before?" He asked.

"For survival." Harry told him. "There is no reason to hunt on our world except for enjoyment and most of that is illegally done. When I was on assignment in one of our Rainforests I had to watch a group of men for a month and that entailed hunting for food. I didn't do that with a gun though."

"What did you use?" Jinto asked curiously.

"A compound bow." Harry told him. "It's limbs are too stiff to move by hand so it relies on a pulley system to store energy. It has a greater range, power and accuracy. Unfortunately I didn't think to bring one in our equipment. If we ever get the chance I'll try to get one."

"I would like to see this bow." Halling nodded.

"How about this? Jinto can take a shot and try to bring one down and then the Sergeant can take his shot, bring a few down." Harry suggested to bring them back to topic.

"Agreed." Halling nodded and patted his son on the arm. "If he misses they may not run though."

"Really?" Harry was surprised but he realised he shouldn't be. "I suppose they are unused to such an attack. Unless one dies they won't see a threat from an arrow in the ground."

"Whenever you wish, Jinto." Haling told him and turned to see Markham silently prepping himself, lining up the M40-A3 and switching off the safety.

"I expect at least three kills from you before they get out of range, Sergeant." Harry told him. "Clean kills mind you so don't rush. Speed is never everything."

"Yes, Sir." Markham nodded.

Jinto stood up slowly and took aim. Harry pulled a couple of scopes from his pocket and handed one to Halling to observe the strike. He could hear Markham adjusting his sight since his own scope had a distance laser on it but Jinto had to make all the adjustments himself. Harry would let Markham do it this time but eventually he'd remove the scope and leave the Sergeant with only the inbuilt sights to work with.

Harry studied the deer, for they were obviously deer even if their colouring was slightly redder than he was used too, they were a large herd, easily a thousand or more. Deer never grouped together like this on his own world which was depressing. He heard the twang of the bow and the sound was hard and strong. Harry glanced away from the scope to find the arrow, he guessed it's fall, and then looked for it as it fell amongst the herd. At this range it was difficult to aim at a particular deer and with smaller herds you'd aim to take an older or injured member out but Jinto was aiming for the herd in general.

It didn't take long to find out if the shot had hit since the herd almost instantly began to charge, crossing the river in the bottom of the valley. Harry could see a large stag on the ground and barely had to wait for the first of Markham's ringing shots. Another large deer fell even as a second and third shot rang out with only seconds between them. Harry might have been able to do slightly better but not by much. In all they took down four deer. Enough to keep the Athosians afloat until their own cattle took hold properly. When that happened they'd be able to hunt to supply the Atlantis expedition with meat.

"Good shot, Jinto." Harry complimented before nodding at Markham. Markham knew his shots were good and Harry didn't need to say it. This had been a test and Harry would start allowing Markham to take one of the M40-A3's with him on missions. "Markham head back and pick up the Jumper then come pick us up down in the valley. We'll load the kills and head back to the camp. Doctor Weir gave us the go ahead to get some R&R out here tonight so once we get back to camp feel free to live it up."

Markham chuckled and handed Harry the M40-A3. Harry stood up and with Halling behind him and Jinto off to the right they began the trek down into the valley. As they came up to the four deer one moved. Harry propped the sniper on the ground next to it, slid out one of his Sai and neatly killed it. It went still without any pain. Harry pulled out the Sai and cleaned it off with one of the wipes he kept in his pouches.

"Can you hunt with those?" Jinto asked him. Harry turned to take in the other kills. This one had been Jinto's and the arrow hadn't killed it cleanly. The other three were a little distance away but the bullets had killed them almost instantly through their chests.

"Not for this." Harry told him.

"Why not?" Jinto asked. Harry moved to help Halling pull one of the deer closer to the first.

"I swore and oath when I was given these." Harry told him and saw that Halling was listening too. "The particular blend of martial arts that I was taught it designed to incapacitate or kill with great efficiency. It's an assassins art and the Sai have very little effect when you try to use them to hurt though they are excellent at killing or defending yourself. When I learnt the art and was gifted with these Sai, I swore that I'd never use them to kill unless the situation really required it."

"But you'll kill with a gun or bow?" Halling asked.

"Don't get me wrong. I'll kill with these, like with the Wraith. I just won't use them for something like hunting." Harry told him. "These weapons are designed to kill an enemy and my art instructs that you only kill when you need to protect another whether he is holding a hostage captive or he's holding the trigger of a bomb in the middle of a town or city."

"That's honourable." Halling nodded to him.

"There is a legend amongst my art that if an innocent ever dies upon one of your blades then they will fail you when you need them most." Harry told them with a grin. "I don't much believe in karma and Fate's always been a particular bitch to me so I suppose I can trust that she owes me a lot."

"She?" Jinto frowned. "Who is this Fate? Is she a member of your team."

Harry laughed but it was Halling that grinned and spoke up. "I believe this Fate is a superstition on your world?"

"Supposedly a being that controls the paths of all lives." Harry told him. "I never much liked her." Harry told him thinking about the prophecy and his own expulsion and his friends' betrayal.

It wasn't long before the Jumper arrived and Harry, Jinto, Halling and Markham bagged the kills and stowed them away. He and Markham spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with the Athosians and Harry taught Markham how to clean and store a kill properly before he was talked into sparring with a couple of young men that clearly fought like Teyla, though not with as much skill. Harry found the time enheartening and it took his mind off of everything else.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day – Atlantis – South Pier**

Because of the recent flood a lot of the South Pier had been flooded and inaccessible until recently and Harry had spent the last eight hours roaming the halls with Zelenka as they checked the place over. It was mainly structural integrity that they were looking at since the area had been catalogued before. Harry, Ford and two Corporals were the only military aid with the group, since these rooms had been checked for booby traps once before they were there more for protocol than anything else.

They met up with Rodney, Ford and another scientist a few minutes later on their way back to the group and Harry put up with their game of Prime or Not Prime for almost ten minutes before he had to step in to stop Ford from doing something unpleasant to a teasing Zelenka.

He added his own quick report to Elizabeth when Rodney reported to her that everything seemed structurally sound and Harry did a quick head count, using his practice to count them all within a second or two. He moved to Zelenka who was checking everybody in. "We're missing two." Harry told him.

"Wait!" Zelenka called as Rodney made to lead them all back to the central city. "We're missing Johnson and Wagner."

Harry frowned but took the lead and tapped the talk button on his earpiece. "Johnson, Wagner, report please." Harry requested shortly.

He got nothing in return for a moment before they all heard a scream. It was both in Harry's ear and from the speakers on the scientists' radios. _"We need back up!"_ Somebody screamed. _"They're coming at us!"_

"Where are they?" Rodney asked Zelenka loudly.

"Straight down there!" Zelenka told him pointing down the hall.

"Ford!" Harry snapped and took off quickly, swinging his P-90 up and flicking off the safety. He jogged down the hall and around a single bend in the corridor before he stumbled across the two missing scientists. One was lying on his back while the woman was sitting against the wall with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around him. "Perimeter." Harry ordered even as he crouched beside the man on the floor and put his fingers to his neck. There wasn't a pulse and there was blood running from his mouth and nose.

He glanced around at the crowd of scientists around them. Ford was at the end of the corridor looking around and the two other Marines were guarding the other end as well as the scientists. Harry was about to get up and speak when the woman screamed and started struggling. Rodney and Zelenka grabbed her but it looked like she was having a fit. "Beckett! I need a medical team down here now!" Rodney shouted down his radio.

Harry stood up and moved to her side but couldn't really do anything as she screamed in terror, scratching at Rodney and Zelenka before seizing up and going limp. Zelenka cradled her head, moving hair out of her newly blood streaked face before touching her neck gently. "It's too late." Zelenka sighed. "She's dead."

_"McKay, this is Beckett."_ He sounded rather flustered but still calm. _"What exactly is the nature of the emergency?"_

Rodney sat back heavily as Harry stood up. "It's too late." Rodney said into his radio. "They're gone."

_"Who's gone?"_ Carsen replied. _"How?"_

"Johnson and Wagner." Rodney replied and glanced at Harry. "We need a containment team."

Harry nodded his agreement even as Ford spoke up. "Containment team? Why?"

"People don't just see things and drop dead, Lieutenant." Rodney snapped even as all the scientists got edgy. "I think Johnson and Wagner were exposed to something."

"It's a safe deduction." Harry put in. "If they were infected then some or all of us might be too."

"I recommend a level four quarantine until we know what we're dealing with." Zelenka put in.

"I agree." Rodney nodded. "Carsen, did you hear all of that?"

_"Aye."_ Carsen told them. _"We'll get to the hazmat gear and head down. I'll make sure Doctor Weir is briefed."_

"Thank you." Rodney told him.

"So, wait." A scientist spoke up. Peterson, Harry seemed to remember. "We're just going to stay here?"

"That's the plan." Harry told him.

"May I say it's a terrible one?" Peterson asked impetuously.

"No." Harry told him. "You're all under my command here, I shouldn't have to remind you all about protocol."

Rodney stared at him for a moment but nodded. "I think we should get out of here!" Peterson shouted.

"I hate to say this but if any of you try my men have permission to shoot you." Harry told everybody loudly and the scientists all looked around at each other, at Harry and then at Ford, and the two Corporals, Ike and Samuels.

Harry moved aside to talk to Ike and Samuels but was drawn back to Rodney when he announced he wanted to move. To explore the labs Johnson and Wagner had been assigned to. Harry moved to the front beside Ford, Zelenka and Rodney. "You wouldn't really shoot us right?"

"We have the authority to." Harry pointed out. "In quarantine situations military personnel have control. Don't worry, Rodney, I'll aim for your legs."

Ford snorted and Rodney glared at him. Harry chuckled. "Well this is a scientific..."

"Don't sweat it, Rodney." Harry told him in amusement. "As long as everybody stays where they should you're in charge."

"I'm thrilled." Rodney deadpanned.

They came to a stop outside a half open set of doors into one of the labs, it wasn't an area Harry had been to yet. "Right, everybody stay here."

Harry nodded to Ford who nodded back. Harry slipped through the door in front of Rodney and scouted the place out in case some sort of device had killed the two poor scientists. The room seemed innocent enough except for the numerous broken cylinders above a work station in the middle of the room. It was clearly a lab and those cylinders worried Harry.

It took a while but eventually the entire team was sequestered in the lab with their laptops trying to find a clue. Harry set Ford to one side of the room while Ike and Samuels watched from inside the door in case anybody took a stroll. It was almost half an hour when Harry's attention was drawn to the middle of the room when another of the scientists screamed and started clawing at Peterson who panicked and almost ran back away from her. Harry was there in an instant holding her shoulders down to the floor when she collapsed. Ike held her legs still as she went into a seizure.

She died the same was as Johnson and Wagner and Harry checked her pulse before sighing and closing her eyes. He tapped his microphone. "Doctor Beckett, you'd better hurry it up." Harry told him. "We just lost another member of the team."

"Where's Peterson?" Ford suddenly asked. Harry stood up quickly and turned to Ike and Samuels who glanced at him and winced. There was no need to say anything to them about leaving the doorway.

"Fucking hell." Harry muttered under his breath before heading for the door. He knew protocol stated he shouldn't go after him but he didn't have much choice. "Nobody else leaves or Ford shoots them." Harry snapped over his shoulder.

He touched his microphone as he jogged down the hall. "Doctor Weir, Peterson's taken a stroll, can you find him on sensors?"

_"Give us a moment." _It was Grodin's voice.

_"Captain, what happened?"_ This time it was John.

"We were distracted when Dumais went into a fit." Harry told him. "He slipped out. I'm on his tail."

_"What are you going to do, Captain?"_ John asked.

"Whatever I have to do to stop him from spreading whatever this thing is to the rest of you." Harry told him.

_"We've got him." _Elizabeth's voice told him. _"He's heading back to the central city. We're closing all the doors and shutting down the power to that section. We should be okay."_

_"The Captain has to stop him."_ Rodney was clearly monitoring.

_"It's okay, Rodney, we've got it under control."_ Elizabeth assured him. Harry didn't pause in following Peterson.

_"No, Elizabeth, it's not under control." _Rodney snapped. _"Peterson knows almost as much as I do about Ancient technology. At the very most, all you are doing is slowing him down."_

"Doctor Weir, you need to try to get him to come to me. He's got a good three minutes on me." Harry told her before concentrating on slipping through the series of cracked open doors. Peterson was fast and he wasn't carrying gear like Harry was.

_"Somebody has to do something."_ John snapped a few minutes later

_"We are doing something." _Elizabeth told him. _"I've tried talking to him but he doesn't respond. Grodin is trying to limit the door controls."_

_"I'm heading out."_ John told her. There was a moment where Harry frowned before John's annoyed voice came to him. _"What the hell is this?"_

_"I can't chance you getting infected." _Elizabeth told him. Harry winced, she'd obviously locked him in the gym and since John had never bothered to learn how to bypass the door controls like Harry had, he was stuck there.

_"I can't chance you getting infected."_ John countered. _"Bates?"_

Harry grimaced this time and sped up even while slowly drawing the air in the corridor towards him. He was causing all the air in this section to blow towards him, hopefully slowing Peterson and making it harder for him to run fast without as much air. He knew that if it came to it he could suck all the air out of the area and suffocate Peterson but he wanted to talk him out of running first. He really didn't want to kill one of their own men, especially since he was simply frightened of dying.

_"Yes, Sir."_ It was Bates' voice and Harry narrowed his eyes knowing what John would order.

_"Unlock the Gym." _John ordered.

_"Yes, Sir."_

_"Don't!"_ Elizabeth snapped over the open radio connection even though she was probably standing right next to him.

_"Sergeant Bates, I am ordering you to open up the doors between the Gym and the med lab right now."_ John ordered.

Harry knew he had to step in. "Sergeant Bates, you'll follow the orders of the expedition leader and not the military leader in this case. You will follow Doctor Weir's orders and you will do so under my orders or I will string you up for endangering the life of the senior military commander of Atlantis." Harry paused. "Is that understood, Bates!?"

_"Yes, Sir." _Bates told him shortly.

_"Captain!"_ John was pissed.

"With all due respect, Major. You are in self regulated quarantine and not on the scene, I am." Harry told him. "I agree with Doctor Weir. I can stop him with whatever means necessary."

_"Thank you, Captain."_ Elizabeth told him.

"Major, pissed at me or not I need your agreement." Harry paused slightly. "If Elizabeth can't talk him down I need permission to stop him at all costs."

Harry hated saying it on the net because he knew that at least half of the expedition would be able to hear him. _"You have it, Captain."_ John sounded sour and Harry knew he'd get yelled at later but he was happy as long as John didn't endanger himself for no good reason.

"He won't make the central city, Major." Harry told him. "You know what I can do."

Harry listened to reports from Elizabeth telling him where he was so he wasn't surprised when he came around one of the corners to see Peterson trying to get through another door. "Peterson, turn around and look at me." Harry demanded.

Peterson managed to get the door open but Harry cocked his gun making Peterson stare at him in surprise. Obviously it wasn't until now that he took Harry seriously. "You wouldn't..."

"Peterson, you clearly don't know me." Harry told him knowing that their conversation was being monitored through his radio. "My job on this mission is to keep the rest of the expedition alive and that includes from internal dangers. If you get to the city centre you will cause the deaths of everybody else on this mission. I can't let that happen and I can't stop you without killing you. Why don't you come back with me? Doctor Beckett has already started treating the others. I'll put my weapon on the ground and you can come back with me."

Peterson stared at him as Harry slowly bent and place the P-90 on the ground. He even took his pistol out and put it on the floor before straightening, leaving his hands at his sides. "Come on Peterson, don't be foolish, nobody wants anybody else to die today and I sure as hell don't want to be the one to kill you. The expedition needs you."

"I can't go back there. I'll get infected!" Peterson argued.

"Then we'll go somewhere else, but not into the city where everybody else is." Harry told him.

"Why not take me to the med lab?" Peterson pleaded. "You can keep me there!"

"No, Peterson." Harry shook his head. "You know that's not possible. You can't go beyond this door. I can't let you, not when sixty more people are at risk."

"No!" Peterson spun and tried to get to the open slot in the door only a few feet from him but Harry had seen the look in his eye as he'd made the decision. Harry's right hand grabbed his Sai and in an instant it left his palm and flew silently across the room, a flight of only a half second before it cut straight through the back of Peterson's torso. The blade pierced his heart, killing him instantly, and he fell to the ground against the door. His eyes dying even as he rolled to the ground.

Harry walked forwards and crouched in front of Peterson. He looked down at the floor between his knees to gain his composure. He'd never killed like this before. Not a good man that was merely frightened and the knowledge that he'd done it to save everybody else didn't help him all that much. Peterson wasn't an innocent but he wasn't really guilty either.

_"Captain?"_ It was Elizabeth calling him. She'd obviously heard a commotion, as had everybody else listening to the radio. _"Harry? Are you okay?"_

_"Captain, report!"_ John almost shouted.

"It's taken care of." Harry told them, knowing that his voice was cold and hard.

_"Captain, what happened?"_ Elizabeth asked.

Harry moved and lay Peterson out straight before taking the Sai out of his back and cleaning it on one of his cloths as he answered. "I need to return to the group. I'll report to you later."

_"Okay, Captain."_ John's voice held none of the snappy tone from before. _"Get back to Beckett and get checked out."_

"Yes, Sir." Harry told him before pocketing his Sai. He reached out one last time and closed Peterson's eyelids. "Sorry, Peterson." He said quietly making sure he wasn't transmitting.

He picked up his pistol and P-90 before starting back for the ruined lab at a jog. When he arrived Ike and Samuels gave him small nods but didn't comment. Ford came over when he saw him. "Sorry, Sir."

"For what, Lieutenant?" Harry asked, not liking the pity-filled look from the Marine officer. "We do what we have to do."

"Yes, Sir." Ford looked at the floor.

Carsen, in a grey-blue hazmat suit, stopped in front of him. "We need to get a look at you." His voice was muffled by the suit but also came through the military frequency into his ear. Even the doctors had heard the scuffle. Harry handed Ford his P-90 and leaned against one of the consoles as he let Carsen check numerous things about him. He was well aware throughout the check up that he was getting looks from everybody in the room and he knew why. They were scared of him now.

"So, what's the current hypothesis?" Harry asked Rodney while Carsen worked.

"Well it's not really a hypothesis." Rodney told him without any of his normal attitude. "We're all infected with a nano-virus that was being studied in this lab. It's got a hibernation period of twelve hours before it ruptures an artery in the brain to kill the host."

"Though it doesn't seem to target Ancients." Zelenka pointed out.

"Yes, yes." Rodney waved him off with some of his normal blasé. "It doesn't affect those with the ATA gene. We've already established that's not going to help."

"It means I won't be affected." Harry pointed out.

"Good for us." Rodney told him. "My twelve hours is already up."

"Which means so is mine." Harry frowned and stood up, pushing Carsen away. "And that means..."

"Hay's died just after you started back." Carsen told him with a sigh.

"So, can we stop it now that we know what it is?" Harry asked.

"I have a plan but it means creating an EMP burst from my lab." Rodney told him. "And we don't have much time."

"My times up in twenty minutes." Ford told him.

"And mine." Zelenka pointed out.

"The burst from your lab..." Harry turned to Rodney. "Will that be large enough to reach here?"

"It'll cleanse the central part of the city..." Rodney paused. "If we're lucky."

Harry looked around the group. Carsen, Ford, Zelenka and Rodney, all knew about his abilities. Harry nodded.

"No, Captain." Carsen shook his head. Ford and Zelenka looked shocked and then frowned while Rodney sighed in resignation. He'd clearly been the only one to think about it.

"Sorry, doctor, but the math is simple." Harry told him.

"Can you create a large enough blast?" Rodney asked quietly so that none of the others could hear.

"It didn't take much effort to create the one that covered your lab." Harry pointed out. "The effect on me might be fatal though."

"Exactly my point." Carsen pointed out. "I won't allow it."

"Sorry, Doctor, you don't get a say." Harry told him. "You might want to come with us though. Zelenka stay here. Ford, you'd better come."

He didn't have to tell anybody that Ford was coming to carry him back inside afterwards. Carsen argued but Harry shut him up with a glare. He ordered Ike and Samuels not to let anybody out until Rodney gave the all clear and left the two confused Marine Corporals behind as he walked down the corridor with Rodney, Ford and Carsen.

"This could be suicide." Carsen pointed out as they emerged from the corridors and out into fresh air. He could control it better from out here.

"Carsen." Harry turned to him. "I brought you out here so that you can do what you can afterwards but if I don't do this then Ford and Zelenka die in seventeen minutes and then the rest of the party soon after. It's a serious risk but it's necessary."

"Doctor Weir?" Carsen spoke up. "Can you talk some sense into him?"

_"What's happening?"_ Elizabeth asked. Nobody but they knew what was happening.

"In short, Doctor Weir, we need a large electro-magnetic burst that'll cleanse the entire city in the next sixteen minutes." Harry told her. "Do you have any _other_ suggestions?"

_"No, Captain."_ Elizabeth sounded strained.

"Major?" Harry winced.

_"Do it, Captain."_ John told him. Harry hadn't needed his permission but Harry found that he simply wanted to know that John knew what he was doing. He wanted John there with him.

Harry stepped away from the others, handing his weapons and pouches to Ford. He stopped a few feet away and looked up into the sky. Looking at a point maybe half a mile above the central tower. His eyes flashed black even though none saw it in the late evening light. Harry struck out with everything he had, forcing the electrons to spin out of control within the restraints of their mother molecules. Forcing the blast that they needed. A flash of white light burst out of nothing within the air. The burst struck out in a sphere or energy that only Harry could feel with his senses.

The light dimmed and Harry suddenly couldn't feel anything in his body. His eyes slipped closed as his head screamed at him. He felt a wave of dizziness that refused to abate and before he realised it the world was spinning in a circle around him and he collapsed to the ground hoping only that it had worked.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next morning**

Harry opened his eyes slowly and groggily, he felt worse than he had when he'd crashed in Antarctica. He was on his side looking at the window and was surprised to see John standing there in his uniform trousers and a white Helly. He almost thought it was the same John as the hallucination from the Wraith Hive ship but his eyes weren't so bright. Harry squinted against the light, bringing John into focus properly before he turned his head up to the ceiling.

"How long have I been out?" He asked John when his senior officer didn't speak.

"A day." John told him. "Doctor Beckett's been beside himself."

"A day?" Harry frowned. "So it worked?"

John smiled and came closer. "It worked." He stopped at the edge of his bed. "How do you feel?"

"About the same as when I crashed in Antarctica." Harry groaned. "Can you turn down the light?"

John laughed but turned back to the window and pulled the blinds down. "I'm glad you're okay, Harry."

Harry rolled painfully onto his back and winced when he tried to sit up. He lifted tired arms to pull the sheet up passed his waist and then let them flop into his lap. He was bare chested and he had to have at least two dozen wired connected to him that led to a lab top on the side table. "John, I'm sorry about what happened with Bates."

John sighed explosively. "Elizabeth was right, I shouldn't have countered her orders in front of everybody."

"And I shouldn't have countered yours." Harry pointed out.

"We both did what we thought was right." John sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, facing Harry. "I wanted to make sure that Peterson couldn't reach the city. I wasn't sure if you'd catch him up or not."

"I only countered your orders because I _knew_ Peterson couldn't have escaped me." Harry told him and caught his eye. "He was alone in that part of the city. I could have taken all the air out of the corridors and suffocated him."

John stared at him for a moment. "But you wanted to give him a chance to give in." John nodded slowly. "I agree with what happened, nobody thinks otherwise."

"That's bull." Harry snapped before he could stop himself. "People might realise it was the only option but nobody really says they agree with it. They'll always think I should have come up with another way."

"You couldn't have saved him." John pointed out. "His twelve hours would have been up about half an hour after you killed him. If you'd let him get away he would have infected the others and even if we would have saved them we didn't know it was possible at the time."

"But I still have to know I killed him." Harry put his head back. "It's the first time I've killed somebody like that, you know."

"Like that?" John asked.

"It's the first time I've had to kill a man that only wanted to save himself." Harry said quietly before dropping his head. John made him jump when he felt his hand take his own carefully.

"If our positions had been reversed I would have done exactly the same thing." John told him, staring into his eyes to push his point across.

Harry squeezed John's hand before extricating his hand. "What about the others? Are people asking what happened?"

"Everybody knows that you did something to create an EMP burst that saved them but nobody knows how and Elizabeth, Rodney, Zelenka and I have simply told people that it's classified." John told him. "The popular theory is that you and Rodney have been working on a secret project."

Harry smiled weakly. "So, when can I get out of here?"

"Carsen's been frantic all day yesterday. Your electro-neuro levels went so high that Carsen thought you'd have an aneurism." John told him. "It wasn't until late last night that he convinced himself you'd survive. What you did was..."

"Necessary." Harry interrupted.

"Necessary." John sighed and hung his head. "Harry, I..."

When John didn't continue Harry let his head fall back on the back of the bed. "You remember I said that if we were back home we'd make good friends?" Harry asked. John nodded. "Well I think we can be good friends out here too."

John laughed before grinning. "Sure, Harry."

"John..." Harry paused. "Thanks for hanging around."

"Anytime." John made to take Harry's hand again but then seemed to think better of it and stood up instead. "Carsen said you should try to get some more rest."

Harry nodded. "You think you could ask him for some food too? I haven't eaten since before we went out on that survey."

"Sure, Harry." John nodded. "I'll let Elizabeth know you're awake."

John left the room and Harry sighed out before sinking back into bed properly.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

"Carsen, there is no way in hell you are going to get me into that wheelchair." Harry snapped. He was changed and was finally being released by Carsen as long as he took it easy.

"I told you, you have to take it easy." Carsen sighed.

"Taking it easy does not require a wheelchair, Carsen." Harry told him blandly and slipped off the bed onto his feet. One of the expedition's nurses, if they could be called just that, rushed to his side. Harry glared at the man angrily and he took a hasty step back away from him. Harry let go of the side of the bed. "See?"

"You'll barely make it down the corridor like that, Captain." Carsen sighed and rubbed at his head.

"Carsen, there are thirty Marines in this city that look to me for strength and leadership." Harry told him. "I can't do that from a wheelchair."

"You're not on duty until at least the end of next week." Carsen pointed out.

"Yet I have a reputation to maintain." Harry told him. "I can't look weak."

"But you are and nobody blames you." Carsen shook his head pleadingly. "What you did nearly killed you."

"What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." Harry countered.

"Or simply kills you next time." Carsen argued.

"I don't plan on a next time any time soon, Carsen." Harry pointed out. "Besides even if I _am_ weak I can't look to be pampering it. I'll walk and if I need to rest then I will and that's okay but I won't pamper that weakness by rolling around the corridors like I'm on a holiday."

"Fine!" Carsen threw up his hands. "Just get out of here before I change my mind and strap you to the bed."

Harry flashed him a grin of victory. "I swear that I'll take it easy, Carsen. And I won't stress my body. I know how to look after myself. Trust me, Carsen."

"I don't trust patients, Captain." Carsen told him blandly.

Harry laughed and slowly made his way to the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Half an hour later**

Harry paused in Elizabeth's office door, he'd used the second door that led to the corridor so that he didn't have to walk through the control room. She was typing on her laptop and hadn't noticed him so he gave in to his exhausted legs and leant a shoulder against the door frame and crossed his arms across his front. He was wearing full uniform except for the Atlantis grey jacket and he was completely unarmed. Normally he'd wear his leather jacket when off duty like this but it was a warm day and he didn't fancy it.

Eventually she moved the mouse, clicked to save whatever she was doing, and then sat back before jumping when she looked up and saw Harry watching her. "Harry." She stated.

"Last time I checked, but I _did_ fry myself quite bad so maybe it isn't." Harry grinned at her. Took the four steps to the chair opposite her and rather gracelessly flopped out on it, stretching his legs and sighing out in satisfaction.

"I thought Carsen wanted you to use a wheelchair." Elizabeth frowned, looking him over.

"Well I told him where he could put that idea." Harry flashed her a cheeky grin. "Well I was polite about it. He might not talk to me until I'm fully back on duty but that's his prerogative."

"Well I'm glad you weren't permanently hurt." Elizabeth smiled. "What you did was incredible and Rodney's been singing your praises for two days now."

"You mean Rodney knows how to compliment somebody else?" Harry asked and laughed along with Elizabeth.

"Did you actually need anything, Harry?" Elizabeth asked. "I'm sure the walk here didn't do you any good when I would have come to see you later anyway."

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't leave me out of the loop." Harry told her. "My body might be tired and I might have the world's largest headache but I'm still the Major's second in command. I won't be standing watch or going off world but there's still a lot to do around here."

"I know, Harry." She smirked at him. "You'll be involved in every meeting of importance, every command decision and you're still in direct control of the Marines."

"Good." Harry paused before tilting his head to the side. "What did you say to John about what happened?"

"About...?"

"About ordering Bates to open the gym." Harry pressed.

She winced. "Sometimes he makes a decision and demands to see it to the end and he doesn't respect the chain of command when he should."

"Doesn't mean he wasn't right to think that." Harry pointed out.

"I know, Harry." Elizabeth sighed.

"John's impetuous but he has good instincts and he's a good man." Harry told her. "He's had his bad luck on some of his assignments but you have to realise something with both of us. We're taught by numbers really. We're taught to assess the damage of any action and then take the required course even if it's the lesser of two evils. His decision to leave the Gym was a number decision. The risk against himself compared to the loss of the rest of the expedition."

"John?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him but Harry just shrugged. "I understand all of that, Harry, but I need the two of you to follow my orders in situations like that."

"I hate to point out the obvious, Elizabeth, but before I came under your command I could have counted all of the times I've been under a civilian leader on one hand." Harry told her honestly. "Actually I can tell you that I've only taken orders from a civilian twice in my life. Once by the Queen of England when she ordered me to leave the RAF and join the USAF and then with a CIA operative in Chile. John's about the same."

"I know it's difficult for you to accept that a civilian like me can have the same good judgement as a senior officer but I need you to try." Elizabeth frowned when Harry started laughing.

"Elizabeth, it's not that at all. You've already proven to both of us that you're more than capable for the job." Harry turned serious. "It's because you don't understand our personalities."

"I've spent most of my career around the military, Harry." Elizabeth pointed out.

"And how many Black Ops have you met?" Harry asked. She shook her head. "And now you've got two of them in your command. We're not normal people, Elizabeth, our training involves things you couldn't imagine in your nightmares and we're supposed to be moulded into killers so that when we're told to target a person we don't even ask who they are before we carry out the mission."

"I understand that." Elizabeth told him.

"I don't think you do, but that's okay." Harry told her. "We don't expect you to understand us but you need to realise that we can come to some heavy, life changing, decisions in seconds. We have to do it all the time and decisions that risk our own lives come naturally to us. When I was down there with the virus I never once thought about how long _I_ had left until it killed me and I doubt John really thought about the fact that he could catch the virus. We make decisions as we have to and we hope there's a psychologist good enough to get us through it."

"Well I don't want two screwed up officers under my command." Elizabeth told him.

"Don't worry about us really, Elizabeth." Harry shrugged and gave her a warm smile that rarely graced his lips. "I've been in this life since I was eighteen and John has done the same. We're good at what we do because we can deal with the mental repercussions."

"You fill me with confidence." Elizabeth deadpanned. Harry laughed and stood slowly. He stretched his legs.

"Oh, Elizabeth. I'm sorry about Peterson, if there had been any other way to ensure he didn't infect the rest of you I would have done it." Harry told her sadly. "I don't like what I did any more than everybody else but I do what is necessary to keep the rest of you safe and I make no excuses for that."

"Nobody thinks otherwise, Harry." Elizabeth told him. "I mean it."

Harry nodded and turned to leave the office. He had an early lunch planned and then he'd pay a visit to Doctor Heightmeyer for his private chat. He'd come to like the doctor and her methods weren't so screening as the other therapists he'd been required to talk to in the past.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Four days later**

Harry's weakness had rapidly fallen away and with every day he began to feel like himself again. According the Carsen, who was still talking to him by some miracle, the overload of electro-neuros had shorted his nervous system but now that the levels had fallen back to something slightly higher than normal, like usual, his body was beginning to wake back up.

Harry had ignored his demands to not train and had come outside every morning to run a few laps of the broad east pier with or without Teyla, John, Ford or any of the other Marines that joined him. Without any normal duties he'd left Bate in charge while John and Ford had gone on a mission with Rodney and Teyla, the normal team. He'd decided to spend the day out in the sun on the edge of the pier running through Sai drills and he was pleased that his flexibility and speed hadn't been unduly affected by what he'd done.

The team had been offworld for several hours now. Harry knew that they'd initially run into Wraith trouble and the cloaking generator had been knocked offline but a large explosion from the surface had destroyed the Wraith ships with little effort. Harry had heard the initial report come through the Stargate before the team had cut the Gate's power and headed down to the planet to find the locals.

They hadn't heard anything back after that but Harry knew that eventually John would have to take the ship up into orbit to open the Stargate and report in. It was almost three hours after John should have landed on the planet when Elizabeth called Harry who was still training out on the pier. _"Captain Potter. You'd better get cleaned up and come up to the Gateroom."_

"Understood, Doctor Weir." Harry replied after a moment to control his breathing. "How long have I got?"

_"About half an hour." _Elizabeth told him. _"The Major and his team are bringing back a guest."_

"Should we take precautions?" Harry asked.

_"I don't think that will be entirely necessary, Captain."_ Elizabeth told him kindly.

So, just his Sai and pistol then, Harry decided and jogged back the two miles of corridors and stairs back to his room. He was tired by the time he got there but by the time he'd had a warm shower and had changed into his full uniform he was ready to greet any guest. He clipped his Sai pouches into his trousers and then clipped his pistol holster over the top of his right Sai.

He arrived in the control room just in time to greet Elizabeth before the wormhole opened. "I did say you didn't need to take precautions."

"These aren't precautions." Harry told her. "They're common sense."

"We're receiving Major Sheppard's IDC." Grodin told him.

"Is the Major going to bring our guest back down here?" Harry asked. She nodded to him just as the Jumper came slowly through the Stargate before rising up through the ceiling and into the Jumper Bay.

It was a few minutes before John led a woman into the Gateroom followed by Rodney, Teyla and Ford. Elizabeth walked down the steps but Harry was slower to start as he took in the woman's appearance. She was remarkably beautiful, untouched by the rigours of life, with a gentle tan and bright eyes that looked around with an expression that Harry couldn't quite place. Something between wonder and happiness. Granted neither were particularly misplaced but still her expression worried Harry. Then again, Harry realised, it could just be the way that John was waiting on her. Harry pushed that thought aside telling himself that it really wasn't any of his business.

In the end he was only a few steps behind Elizabeth when she stopped in front of the woman with a bright smile on her face. "Welcome to Atlantis, Chaya." Elizabeth greeted and offered her hand. Chaya took it gently before her eyes slid passed Elizabeth to Harry. Her expression flickered so briefly that Harry wouldn't have sworn to have seen it in the first place. Then again Harry was a trained sniper and they didn't miss much. "This is Major Sheppard's second in command, Captain Potter."

Harry felt something he hadn't felt in a long time, something that had taken years to realise he had felt in the first place. It was hard describe but he put the thought aside as he nodded to Chaya without smiling. His normal cold exterior was up and he ignored the glare that John shot his way at his harsh attitude. Harry suddenly found himself tempted to glare back at him as if angry with a child with a new toy.

"I hope you don't mind but our doctors do require a medical exam of all offworld team members and our visitors." Elizabeth continued after the brief moment of silence. "But after that perhaps you would like a full tour."

"I would love that." She smiled happily.

"Major Sheppard has already promised to do so." Teyla spoke up.

"Of course he has." Elizabeth sounded weird and Harry took in her own expression, she looked amused. Clearly everybody here saw John's infatuation even if nobody said anything. "How about I show you to the infirmary?" Elizabeth offered and Chaya and John off out of the room.

"Maybe I should tag along in case you have any questions that the Major can't answer?" Rodney shouted after them.

"I think I can handle it, Rodney." John told him over his shoulder with a negligent gesture.

"There's a lot of systems you know absolutely..."

"Got it covered." John shouted back before disappearing.

"Fine." Rodney huffed before looking at Teyla and then Harry. "Captain." He greeted before turning to go.

"Hold on a second, Rodney." Harry frowned after where John had disappeared. "You too, Teyla."

"What is it?" Rodney asked.

"I want a report on your mission." Harry told them.

Teyla nodded but Rodney looked slightly irritated. "We'll write..."

"Now, Rodney." Harry snapped and turned to head up to Elizabeth's office. He leaned on Elizabeth's desk while the two sat down in the chairs. "So the last I heard you were saved from a few Wraith Darts by some kind of Energy Weapon."

"Oh yes." Rodney spoke sarcastically. "The great Othara saved us."

Teyla rolled her eyes. "Perhaps the Captain would like a more serious report." She offered.

"Go on Teyla." Harry nodded sending a 'shut it' look at Rodney.

"We visited one of the small villages on the planet and the people were rather unsophisticated." Teyla told him. "We described what had happened to us but the people had never heard of the Wraith."

"That's strange isn't it?" Harry asked her.

"I have never heard of such a thing." Teyla nodded at him. "They told us that Othana protects them and eventually they took us to see their High Priestess, Chaya. We hoped to find a sanctuary if the Wraith attack us but Chaya said that Othana refused."

"Sure!" Rodney rolled his eyes. "Let's go pray, maybe that'll help."

"Rodney." Harry warned. "So the Major brought her back to try to convince her?"

"I believe that is his hope." Teyla nodded.

"And I take it you think she's hiding something, Rodney?" Harry asked.

"Somebody on that planet has to know about that weapon." Rodney pointed out. "If it's supposed to be Othana than her High Priestess should know about it. If she doesn't then we are wasting our time."

Harry nodded. "Teyla, what do you think?"

"There is something peculiar about it but perhaps the weapon is automated and they truly do not know anything about it." Teyla told him.

Harry sat back on the table and waved them off when they made to leave. He stayed leaning against the table for perhaps half an hour thinking about that sensation he'd felt when she'd looked at him but couldn't quite place it.

He was interrupted by Rodney and Elizabeth. "Carsen has the results on her scans if you want to come with us." She didn't seem bothered that Harry was leaning on her desk but Harry just shrugged and followed them from the room.

They found Carsen in his office behind his laptop. "What've you got?" Harry asked.

"Blood work shows no viral, bacterial or parasitic infections." Carsen told them instantly, "MRI shows no tumours or cancers. No heart defects of any kind. Blood pressure is one-thirty over seventy. Total Cholesterol is one-oh-seven. She's in perfect health."

"I'm happy for her." Elizabeth frowned. "Why did you need to tell us that?"

"Because, Doctor, she's too healthy." Carsen told her bluntly.

"What does that mean?" Rodney asked.

"There's no trace of any diseases or congenital conditions that you typically find in pre-technological societies. No rickets, fungi or STDs."

"Perfect health." Elizabeth frowned this time.

"Exactly." Carsen nodded.

"And that's a problem because?" Elizabeth prompted.

"It's unnatural." Harry interrupted Carsen with a sharp jerk of his head. "Is there any sign that this perfect health is due to any outside intervention?"

"What do you mean?" Carsen asked.

"Was she born perfect and has always been that way or has something powerful treated any and all problems?" Harry prompted.

"From what I can see she was born this way." Carsen frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Thank you, Carsen." Harry nodded and left the room with Elizabeth and Rodney.

"What was that about, Harry?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know yet." Harry told her with a shrug. "I'll let you know if I work it out. I'd suggest we keep an eye on her though."

"Major Sheppard will be thrilled." Rodney pointed out dryly.

"He'll live." Harry grunted and turned to the cafeteria for some dinner.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Early the next morning**

Harry woke with a start, he was almost naked as usual without a sheet over him but the locks on the door made sure that nobody could enter without him unlocking the door. He never slept well when he was covered by a blanket because of his treatment at his relatives and from his cupboard and he liked the breeze that came in through his open balcony door.

His sleep hadn't been restful though, he'd dreamt about a dozen dreams of his time at Hogwarts, especially the parts about Albus Dumbledore and his damn twinkle. It was like his sub-conscious mind was trying to answer the previous day's questions and they had. When Chaya had looked at him she'd entered his mind just like Albus Dumbledore had, it had been a bare moment yet Harry had the feeling that she'd seen straight into his deepest thoughts.

Which meant she was a witch of some kind which could explain the perfect health even if that hadn't been a common thing amongst those on Earth. He got out of bed, showered and dressed. He armed himself again before heading out. He crossed the hall to Rodney's rooms but got no answer so he headed for the control room.

It was too early for there to be many people on duty apart from the four Marines sitting on the steps who leapt up when they saw Harry approaching. Harry waved them back carelessly and entered the control room. He didn't really know the two technicians on duty but they straightened up when they saw him. "Do either of you know where Doctor McKay is?" Harry asked sharply.

"We think he's in his lab, Sir." One answered. "We moved the new scanner there last night. I think he's working on it."

"Overnight?" Harry raised his eyebrows at them. They nodded. Harry turned and left the room, heading downstairs to Rodney lab. The new scanner picked up life signs like the normal life signs detector but actually scanned them, defining the different species'.

Harry didn't bother knocking and made Rodney jump with a loud cough. The man was working over a laptop sitting on the top of the console for the new sensor. "Find anything interesting?" Harry asked.

"Yes actually." Rodney told him. "I thought about using this to see if our guest is hiding anything and well... see for yourself."

Rodney tapped on the laptop screen. At the bottom was a simple looking wavelength while above it was a highly complicated version. "What am I looking at?" Harry asked.

"This is any one of our signatures." Rodney told him. "And this is Chaya's. She's obviously not human."

"Could it just be a different branch of human?" Harry asked. "We are in another galaxy after all."

"Granted but Teyla's is the same as ours. The only one that's different is yours." Rodney opened a side panel and brought out what seemed to be a bookmarked file. The wavelength was slightly distorted, almost as if there was a second frequency slightly higher than the first.

"Hey, what can I say?" Harry shrugged. "I'm weird."

"So, is there a reason you're up this early?" Rodney asked.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "I'm giving you authorisation to do what you need to do to find out what Chaya is hiding."

"I don't think Major Sheppard will accept that so easily." Rodney pointed out.

"I have higher clearance than anybody else on this expedition and that includes both Doctor Weir and Major Sheppard." Harry explained looking at Rodney's shocked look. "I can't explain why but she might just be the reason. If the expedition is under threat from something covered by that clearance I have the authority to overrule Major Sheppard."

"He's not going to like that." Rodney pointed out.

"He doesn't have to like it." Harry told him. "Sometimes we have to do our duty before giving into our infatuations."

"He's not particularly subtle." Rodney scoffed.

"Find a way to find out what she's doing and report to me and Elizabeth first thing tomorrow."

"I've got an idea." Rodney told him. "Give me a couple of hours to work out the details and I'll find you before the briefing later."

Harry nodded and left to go beat something up in the gym. He knew he was beyond pissed and for the first time he admitted something to himself. He wanted something between himself and John even passed the social barriers placed on them by the military. But John clearly didn't care for Harry despite the little smiles they shared and his insistence on being friends. John was obviously infatuated with Chaya and was flaunting it around as if they were a couple.

Harry spun on the spot and delivered a violent kick to the dummy after almost an hour of drills. The dummy made an ominous groan and Harry straightened and stretched his muscles. He ached because he'd pushed himself beyond his limits and he knew that Carsen would kill him if he found out. Harry dried off and pulled his shirt back on over his head before dressing fully and heading back to his quarters for a quick rinse off. He couldn't help but realise that he was jealous and that he was falling for his superior officer.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Elizabeth's office**

"Elizabeth it doesn't matter what you think is morally right." Harry told her over the table. "Protocol dictates that if I have proper cause to suspect a certain situation I have the right to overrule you and the military commander, even a general, to ensure proper precautions are taken."

"But you won't tell me what you think is happening?" Elizabeth asked sharply.

"It's classified." Harry told her yet again. "It's the thing that General O'Neill told me isn't to be disclosed under _any_ situation. Sorry, Elizabeth, but as of right now you can't counter any of my orders in relation to her. Rodney will do his scans during the meeting and if I decide to take action neither you nor the Major can do anything about it."

"John is not going to be happy about this." Elizabeth told him.

"I hope I'm wrong, Elizabeth, but if there's even a fraction of a chance I'm right then I want all precautions in place." Harry told her. "What's covered under that classification is too dangerous for us to just let the Major be taken in by her. And if I am right there is a possibility that she is causing Major Sheppard's infatuation."

"What?" Elizabeth was half out of her seat.

"Perhaps now you understand part of my concern." Harry sighed. "Major Sheppard didn't want anybody other than Teyla, you, him and Chaya in your negotiations but I'm adding myself and Rodney."

"We need this negotiation to go well, Harry." Elizabeth pointed out.

"If I do nothing and I'm right in my fears she could destroy us before I can take action." Harry told her. "This isn't negotiable, Doctor Weir, and I won't apologise if I'm wrong. Too much is at stake to trust Major Sheppard's instinct when there is evidence that states that she is not what she claims to be."

"Fine. Just keep any argument with John out of the public eye." Elizabeth told him. Harry nodded and left.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**An hour later**

Harry stood to one side of the room, behind Rodney. Teyla, Elizabeth, John and Chaya all sat at the table. John had kicked up a fuss about Harry and Rodney's presence, though he didn't know why Rodney was there, but Elizabeth had told him to deal with it rather than have an argument between Harry and John. What neither of them realised was that two Marines with Wraith stunners waited outside the doors in case Harry called them in.

They were talking about things that Harry wasn't particularly fussed about. Chaya was unconvinced that there would be any reason to form an alliance and the one time she had looked up at him Harry had felt that trickle against his mind. This time he didn't let it go unnoticed and he narrowed his eyes at her and his hand trailed to his side, where his pistol was. He couldn't do anything to keep her from his mind, no amount of will power could help him without his old magic, but he concentrated on the thought that he didn't want her in his head and that if she didn't stop he'd force her out somehow. And that if she hurt John he'd make sure she regretted it.

She gave him a level look and Harry had his proof that she was hiding something and that she'd heard his directed thoughts. "In the end it's a matter of trust." Elizabeth's voice made him turn away from Chaya and look at her.

"Yes it is." Chaya agreed simply. Harry looked back at her but she was looking at Rodney. "Have your scans found anything yet, Doctor McKay?"

Rodney looked startled but Harry stepped forwards with narrowed eyes. He stuttered a few times before closing the lid of the laptop. "Actually, no."

"What the hell is this?" John growled out as he half stood. He looked at Elizabeth angrily.

"I ordered it." Harry spoke up.

"What!?" John glared at him but Harry's cold expression didn't change.

"I had legitimate reason to activate the clearance protocol." Harry told him.

"Captain..." John was beyond angry it seemed but Harry's cold expression didn't shift.

"We had legitimate reason.." Elizabeth started.

"...about whether I was what I claimed to be." Chaya finished for her.

"I'm sorry, Chaya. I honestly felt it would do no harm."

"Stop apologising, Elizabeth." Rodney stood up. "How did she know?"

"If anything she just proved my point." Harry stepped in to agree with Rodney. She'd detected the scans too accurately. "She either detected the scans or took the knowledge of them out of my mind. Either one needs powers a human shouldn't have."

"I'm not what you fear." Chaya told him without standing up.

"Captain..." John tried again but Harry talked over him.

"I can't take the risk of finding out you're lying." Harry told her.

"Captain!" John snapped loudly making Harry look at him.

"She's an Ancient, Major." It was Rodney that spoke up. Harry looked at him feeling surprised. He had thought about that when trying to work out alternatives to a Witch but he'd prepared for the worst of the two.

"She's what?" John gasped in surprise.

"I'm right aren't I?" Rodney asked. "The perfect health, the energy weapon, the fact that she has the gene. It's the only logical explanation."

"What the hell are you talking about?" John asked.

"I just don't understand the act." Rodney turned to Chaya. "I mean, you must know that we'd give almost anything to talk to you, to learn from you. I mean what is it? Are you checking us out?"

"I see that in my desire to come to Atlantis I have revealed too much of myself." Chaya sighed. Harry relaxed slightly at the admission. He studied her face seeing the sadness there. There was none of the alternative air he'd gotten before.

"He's right?" Elizabeth was clearly shocked.

"I'm right?" Rodney was even more shocked.

"I _am_ what you call an Ancient." She nodded before looking at Harry. "I am not what you fear, Captain Potter, though I see how you would be worried and I blame you not."

"I was concerned that you had forced the Major's response." Harry told her with a sigh.

"What!?" John looked shocked, looking between the two of them. "Captain, that's out of line."

"John." Chaya cut him off and Harry knew she'd seen the flash of hurt on Harry's face. "I'm afraid it's also true that I can't offer you sanctuary. But you are wrong about why I came here."

"Why _did_ you come here?" John asked, calming down though Harry knew he'd get an earful later.

"You, John." Chaya said it simply but Harry felt himself tense up. Chaya gave him the briefest of looks.

"Me?"

"I have lived in solitude for so long that when you asked me to come with you to Atlantis, I..." She trailed off.

"Oh my god." Rodney cursed. "He _is_ Kirk."

"This was never about..." John glanced around nervously. "Could we just have a moment here to ourselves?"

"No!" Harry was the only other person in the room not to shout at him.

"That's alright." Chaya sighed. "I've stayed here long enough."

She stood up and John followed her from the room, sending an irritated glare at the rest of them. Harry leaned on the desk but moved forwards when the Marines tensed up as Chaya collapsed into John's arms on the steps. Harry waved them down and they lowered their stunners.

Before Harry could move to help John with her she turned to face John before she began to shine. Harry couldn't have said exactly when she became a floating cloud of white light but it happened steadily over the span of a couple of seconds. The Stargate burst to life and filled and what Harry now knew was an Ascended Ancient floated away through the wormhole.

"I'm taking a Jumper after her." John told Elizabeth sharply.

"What just happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"There's only one way to find out." John was already heading down the steps and for the Jumper bay.

"Go." Elizabeth said rather pointlessly.

Harry glanced at Rodney and Teyla with a tired look. "That went well." Rodney deadpanned.

"Stand down." Harry ordered the Marine before looking at Teyla, Rodney and Elizabeth. "Better than I expected."

"Better?" Elizabeth asked.

"If you don't mind, Doctor Weir. I'll take my leave. I'd rather not be in the Major's firing line when he returns." Harry asked. She nodded her head and Harry turned on his heel and headed to his rooms and some peace and quiet.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That night**

Harry was leaning against his balcony and he had been for almost an hour. A small squall had set in around the city and the waves had picked up, sending spray up against the edge of the piers and dark clouds had blotted out the first of the stars. Wind swept the city's towers but no rain or lightning had started to fall just yet. Harry didn't want to have to go inside and Carsen would have his head if he caught a cold or something like that.

A chime sounded from within his room. "It's unlocked." Harry yelled without turning around. He heard the door open and light footsteps across the floor and out onto the balcony.

"When did the weather turn bad?" Harry wasn't shocked to hear John's voice. Harry turned to look at him with his blackened eyes. "Oh." John glanced around. Harry released his ability and the wind almost instantly being to slacken off. It would take a few hours for the clouds to thin and disperse. "Should you really be doing that?"

"As long as I don't hurt anybody." Harry shrugged. "Just don't tell Carsen."

John walked up to his side and leaned his elbows on the balcony. "We need to talk about what happened."

"I don't think there's anything to discuss." Harry told him bluntly. "I was doing my job."

"No, you were looking for trouble." John almost lost his calm.

"With respect, Major." Harry straightened up. "My job is to assess everybody that comes into Atlantis for threats, that includes people you get a crush on."

"Captain, be careful..." John turned to look at him.

"No, Major." Harry told him. "You let up your guard because you liked her and I stepped in to take the precautions you were too caught up to take and in doing so I found a threat and took steps to counter them."

"You shouldn't have taken steps, you should have come to me." John snapped.

"You wouldn't have listened to me!" Harry snapped right back. "Just like right now! If she'd proven to be what I thought she was we could have been in serious trouble."

"How would somebody from Earth have gotten out here?" John snapped.

"What?" Harry took a step backwards.

"She told me." John told him, still with the harsh clip to his voice. "She said you were worried she was like some of the people on Earth. What was she talking about?"

"That's classified." Harry told him shortly.

"Not anymore." John shook his head.

"It's not a threat anymore." Harry said bluntly. "She proved not to be what I thought so the danger is passed."

"Then I think you owe me an apology for going behind my back with Rodney and Elizabeth." John pointed out.

"No, Major. I don't." Harry was beyond angry now. He knew it was irrational but John was the cause of all of it. "You screwed up because of an infatuation and that could have put us all at risk. I won't let you take that out on me because I took the necessary steps to safeguard the city. I won't risk this expedition on a short term crush."

John visibly blanched this time and there was a flash of something in his eyes. "You mean for me." John turned his head away from Harry for a second. "She said..." He shook his head. "You won't let an infatuation for me get in the way of this expedition."

Harry saw red, he was too angry to think. "Get out." Harry snapped and gestured blindly at the door.

"No, Captain." John shook his head.

Harry eyes flashed black and a wind slammed through the city, whistling through the towers. A few seconds later a wall of rain slammed against the windows. "Get out." Harry narrowed his eyes at him. "Whatever she told you, she ripped out of _my_ mind. My _thoughts_, you have no right to talk about it so just get out of my rooms!" He yelled the last bit and a flash of lightning struck the water a mile or so from the edge of the city. Harry wasn't going to risk the city in his venting, no matter how angry he was. The thunder slammed through the city a second later and John finally shook his head and retreated out of the wind and rain and through his rooms to the corridor.

Harry turned and sagged against the banister as a small storm raged through the city. Harry kept a close lease on it but he expected to hear from Elizabeth in the morning but at least he'd have vented his irritation out on something more pliable than a human.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	11. Reaching out to home

Cast between Worlds

A/N; Thanks to TheWingedWhispered for proof ready this for me, it's meant I could post it now rather than in a couple of days. Sorry for the delay. The next chapter along will be the one people are waiting for, when everything in the first season comes to a head. It'll probably be a long one and I have a tour at sea coming up so I may not get another chapter out until summer. I really am sorry about this, if I get anything done sooner I'll send it to my friend and she can post it for you all.

Chapter 11; Reaching out to home.

**Atlantis – The next day**

Harry walked into the meeting without a sign of his outburst the night before and even though most of the occupants in the room weren't aware of anything out of the ordinary John was quite obviously uncomfortable and Elizabeth frowned at him and he knew he'd be having words with her in her office later about last night's storm. The meeting didn't really take that long since neither Harry nor John had much to say about any of the internal matters of the expedition. Elizabeth did bring up Harry's idea to take groups to the mainland for a few days for survival training and Harry made the scientists in the meeting, namely Rodney and Zelenka, bring him a list of the levels of training that the scientists had undertaken before coming on the mission. He knew that Elizabeth had tried to get them all through a basic survival course before they'd left Earth but that would have been very light and the scientists probably hadn't taken it seriously.

"Harry, a word?" Elizabeth asked as the meeting ended and they all stood to return to the day's activities. Harry nodded and stayed where he was as the rest left the room. The spinning doors that made up the walls of the room closed once it was only Harry and Elizabeth in the room. Harry leaned his elbows on the table knowing that the room was now soundproofed and he doubted even Rodney could find a way to spy into the room.

"If this is about last night's storm..." Harry started.

"It is but I checked with Rodney this morning, it never came that close to the city and you had it under perfect control." Elizabeth cut him off. "This is about you and John."

"What about us?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Clearly the two of you haven't settled the argument from yesterday." Elizabeth pointed out.

"He believes I was in the wrong when I ordered the extra measures and wanted me to admit I was wrong." Harry told her. "That's not something I'm willing to do when the cause of my concern was very real."

"But you're not willing to tell me what had you so worried?" Elizabeth asked. "You know if you just told John and I why you were so worried that this would blow right over."

"And then I'd be in direct breech of orders given to me my General O'Neill." Harry told her. "Your clearance isn't high enough for you to worry about it."

"And what if you'd been right?" Elizabeth asked. "Would you have told us then?"

Harry paused and looked away for a moment. "If I couldn't deal with it alone then I probably would break clearance and explain it to you but when dealing with this sort of thing no extra knowledge is going to help any of you. You can either manage to kill them with what you already know or not. Nothing I tell you will help you to kill them."

"Kill them?" Elizabeth asked with a sceptical look.

"They don't all deserve to die, they're not like the Wraith but they have their bad apples and they don't have the need to survive to explain their actions." Harry stood up. "Look, Elizabeth, I've already said too much and you really don't need to know any more."

"And you and John?" She asked. "He looked rather off when he came back through the Stargate."

"That between the two of us, Elizabeth." Harry told her rather coldly. "We're professionals and it'll stay that way."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later that day**

"You look bored out of your mind." Ford told him with a grin as they walked through a dark section of the outer city along the northern pier since they hadn't really explored it that much so far. Harry glanced over at him before glancing back at John and Teyla who were following a few paces behind them.

"I swear if Rodney doesn't stop asking stupid questions I'm going back just to punch him." Harry told the Lieutenant simply. Rodney had decided to forego this particular exploration and had manned the sensors in the control room while they reported to him. Supposedly he had a few experiments on the go but Harry knew it was more because he has a headache and didn't want the extra hassle of walking so far.

Ford paused as he made a cursory glance through a room on their right. Harry paused as well and came to his side looking into the room that quickly turned out to be a laboratory of some kind but what caught his eye was the three indentations in the far wall. He recognised them from his time in the Antarctica research station. They were incubation pods and most importantly the centre one was activated.

"Major, you'd better take a look at this." Ford spoke into the corridor as Harry venture into the room and around a bed laid out in the centre and to the control panel.

"_Something interesting?"_ Rodney's voice sounded over the radio after John told him what was happening.

Harry passed his hand over the control pod and thought about the pods lights and moments later the once dark pod lit up to reveal and old woman, dressed in white. A very old woman. "I'd say so." John whistled under his breath.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two hours later**

Harry drummed his fingertips on the railing on the balcony outside the control room thinking over the latest finger. The woman in the pod had been revived against Carson's advice but Harry had to agree with both Rodney and Carson on this one. Rodney was right in that they needed any information that she could give them especially if the Wraith really were on the way and they could either wake her and get the information even if it cost her her life or they could let her die in the stasis pod without the added pain of being awoken.

Something was bothering Harry though about it all but he couldn't place his finger on what it was. Deciding that he'd be able to work it out if he went down to the infirmary again he turned and walked in through the control room and back down to the infirmary just as Carson called for Elizabeth to come down. He arrived at about the same time as the other two and Carson came over to them. "She's drifting in an out." Carson told them. "There's something a wee bit odd about this woman. She called me Carson, she knew my name."

"Maybe she heard you talking to someone?" Rodney pointed out logically.

"No." Carson shook his head. "It's more than that, she knows things."

Carson just frowned after saying that and Harry walked over to the bed to stand at the base as Elizabeth stood near her shoulders with Carson and Rodney next to her. Harry watched silently as Elizabeth gently touched the stirring woman on the shoulder and she woke up, looking around at them all.

"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth asked just as the woman's eyes settled on Harry, making his own eyes widened in surprise as he worked it all out.

"Look at you!" She gasped out with a strained smile. "It's so good to see you all again. I've missed you all so terribly. Even you Rodney."

Harry felt a smile spread across his face at Rodney's surprise. It was obvious to Harry now who was such a talented head hunter. He could recognise somebody at a brief glance, could shoot his target with the barest of warnings. But it had been her eyes that had given her away, they were aged but the eyes were the windows to the soul and even after aging the woman's soul hadn't changed.

"I'm sorry." Elizabeth frowned. "Do we know you?"

Harry laughed attracting all of their gazes but he just smiled down at the woman in the bed. "Hello Elizabeth."

A smile of delight spread across the aged woman's face and she turned her head to look up at her counterpart who stared at Harry in shock before looking down. "How?"

"I travelled backwards in time." Elizabeth managed tiredly. "To the Ancients."

Before anybody, even Rodney, could ask a question she slipped back into sleep. "I think we need to all talk." Elizabeth said with a pointed look at Harry who just shrugged at her. Even though he was being cavalier about it he was just as confused about this as anybody out and he followed Elizabeth and Rodney up into the meeting room, calling for Ford, Teyla and John along the way.

It didn't take long to bring them all up to speed on the short conversation with the other Elizabeth and soon John was looking straight at Harry. "How did you work it out?" John asked.

"That's something I'd definitely like to know." Elizabeth nodded and soon all eyes were turned to Harry.

Harry shrugged. "She reminded me of you."

"She looks nothing like Elizabeth." Rodney pointed out.

"Some things run deeper than the skin." Harry told him. "When you're in the field you have to see passed the fake disguises and the changed hairstyles if you want to shoot your targets."

"I so didn't want to know that." Rodney groaned and Harry almost thought he saw a flash of amusement in John's expression before it was quickly hidden.

"Also her eyes were a giveaway." Harry told Elizabeth. "They may be physically older but not mentally, they hold the same soul to them that you do."

"You can't be talking about seeing somebody's soul in their eyes." Ford chuckled.

"Be superficial if you'd like, Lieutenant, but a person's eyes can tell you a lot about a person's mind and how they'll react to certain things." Harry turned to look at Ford as he finished and his cold gaze made both Rodney and Ford rock back in their chairs. Harry had learnt to control his emotions and through that what people could read from his eyes and just by thinking about all the pain in his life he knew he had a gaze far more shocking than Snape's ever had had. That said though as soon as he brought his pain under control his eyes went back to their normal blend of indifferent practicality and barely constrained amusement that they were all so used to from him.

There was a moment's silence in the room before talk turned to the chances of her telling the truth about going back in time. Harry slowly stood at that announcement and silently left the room before he became tempted to wave his own jumps backwards in time at Rodney's theories. He made his way back down to the infirmary feeling the need to speak to Elizabeth alone. He'd caught something in her glance that he'd never tell the others, an added pain and he'd already figured out from that one gaze what had happened to the rest of them in this other version of existence of hers.

He knew the wide window silhouetted him as she stirred once again and hour or so later but he moved out of the light quickly and around the bed so that she wasn't dazzled by the light. "Of all the people to be standing over my bed, I would not have thought it would be you." She told him quietly.

"I can surprise people." Harry told her. "The others are off debating the possibilities of time travel and I hoped to be able to speak to you."

"I am glad." She told him but with a hint of sadness. "My only regret in this is the losses that I experienced but to see you all here now, safe, makes it all worthwhile."

"I know how that goes. Making a sacrifice like that takes courage." Harry told her. "I can kind of guess what happened to you. I can see what happened to us by the look in your eyes when you look at us."

"It went so wrong." She sighed. "All those people that died..."

"But when you look at me it's different." Harry sighed. "I've lost people before, it's almost easier when you don't have the time to dwell on it at the time. Why do you look so much sadder when you look at me?"

"When I went back in time Major Sheppard, Doctor Zelenka and you were with me. They died in the crash but you and I survived but..." She paused and shut her eyes. "You are right, your death was harder for me than any of the others because it was slow. You were in so much pain..."

"How did I die?" Harry asked gently, knowing that she needed to say it out loud.

"The water was coming in so fast." She told him and shut her eyes as if relieving the memory. "We were running out of time and were trying to get one of the ships to work but the water was coming so fast. We were about to die when you..."

"Held back the water?" Harry guessed.

"You told me about the cost when we first found out what was happening and I told you not to." Elizabeth told him and Harry saw a tear in her eye. "The water crashed through the doors before we could close the ship but you stopped it somehow. Just long enough to escape before you collapsed. You never woke up again. The Ancients did everything they could but they couldn't treat you for the pain. I sat by your beside for three days while the chemicals in your brain slowly killed you."

Harry moved closer to her side and laid his hand on top of her own. "It worked, Elizabeth. You saved us and you spared me from that and I can't thank you enough for giving me this chance to live and if there was anything I could do to help you then I would."

"Just try to open up to them." She whispered before she fell asleep again.

"I'm trying." Harry whispered so that the camera that had recorded the conversation couldn't pick it up. Harry turned and saw Carson standing near the door but he wasn't surprised. Harry forced himself to calm his emotions but he knew that Carson had seen the sadness in his eyes. This woman had given up her life to give them the chance to live theirs and she'd done it with barely a thought for herself.

"Captain..." Carson started but Harry just shook his head.

"I needn't tell you that you'll have to make that section of the tape confidential." Harry told him.

"If Elizabeth and the others can watch it then we won't have to bring up those memories again by asking the same questions." Carson pointed out. Harry paused but nodded, given his permission silently.

"Carson?" Harry asked as he drew level with him and grabbed his arm lightly. "Don't let her dream about that, she doesn't need nightmares about it."

"I'll give her something." Carson nodded and Harry saw he was clearly upset. Then again Carson had sat by Harry's side while he'd been in a fever after torture and again when he'd over taxed himself to save the expedition from the nano-virus just recently.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

Harry stood out on the balcony of his room with his arms resting on the railing and his head hanging down as he thought about his life. It was hard not to look back over his choices when facing the Elizabeth lying up on that bed. She wasn't his Elizabeth but in a way she was more like Harry than their own was. She understood the pain that came with making a decision that could end your own life. And most of all she knew the horror of losing those around you.

He knew that Elizabeth, Rodney, John, Teyla and Ford had watched the recording of his conversation with her and since then he'd been up to watch over her and he'd been there most of the times when she recounted what had happened. About how they had all been lost and then what they'd done to ensure the survival of the city. And he'd been there when she'd died, a final resting death to end the mental suffering that came with such a choice.

His door chimed and he waited patiently as the person opened his door and walked inside without being invited, he didn't much care right now if John let himself into his rooms. Even if in private they weren't really getting along right now. John's familiar footsteps walked out onto the balcony and he came to lean on the balcony close to Harry's right hand side.

"How are you doing?" John asked him after a moment's silence during which Harry's control over the wind made it play with his hair unconsciously.

"That's a loaded question." Harry responded after a slight pause.

"Do you want to answer it?" John asked.

"Not really." Harry let the edge of his lips twitch in amusement though he knew the slightly older man hadn't seen it. "Do you?"

John laughed and Harry saw him ease the tension out of his stance out of the corner of his eyes. "What happened...." John trailed off as he rethought his words. "I told you that if we were on Earth things might be different with us. We'd definitely be friends or..." There was another pause before he whispered his last word only just loud enough for Harry to hear. "...more."

Harry chose not to respond for almost a minute before he straightened up and put his hands on the railing. John didn't move. "But we're not on Earth. I know... John."

John straightened up but didn't turn to look at him. "I wish..." He started speaking in the direction of the sky.

"People like us don't get wishes, John." Harry said rather demurely. "We either strive for what we know we can achieve or we let go of our dreams and do something within our capability. There's no future in dreams."

John finally turned to look at him and Harry saw more emotion in his eyes then he'd ever seen before, so much that even Harry couldn't read it before John covered up the emotions with his normal look. "That's a little dark, even for you."

"Maybe." Harry shrugged a shoulder despondently.

"When did you start thinking like that?" John asked.

"When I was four." Harry told him honestly and saw the look of surprise and absolute horror pass across his senior officer's expression.

"Harry..." John started before trailing off as he gaze met with Harry's. Harry saw something deeper in John's eyes, something on a larger scale than he'd seen back during the storm when they'd worked together to clear it of the Genii.

Harry looked over John's shoulder and at the open sky. "But we're not on Earth." Harry told the man simply effectively closing the conversation with his tone alone.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A week later**

It had been a rather interesting week for them all. John, Rodney, Taylor and Ford were offworld on an extended research mission to find one of the ZPMs that the other Elizabeth had directed them towards and their frequent scheduled reports suggested they were doing well, in fact in the last report Rodney sounded confident that they were almost finished. Then again that was Rodney. Harry had been busy working with the Marines to make this long stint of guard duty more bearable for them and he had them doing drills with the scientists about what to do if they suddenly came under different kind of attacks, even going so far as to do a gas drill out of nowhere. Harry had literally walked into the control room, commandeered the city-wide address system and announced an imminent chemical attack. All of the members of the expedition had been issued with military grade respirators but only the marines and a few lucky scientists who were in the right place at the right time had managed to get into the correct gear within the five minutes he gave them. Elizabeth had merely accused him of being bored when he walked into the control room that day. Harry hadn't exactly denied that one.

"How did the exploration of the north pier go yesterday?" Elizabeth asked him as she moved a checker, taking one of his own. She'd gotten bored of Harry pulling tricks on her when they played chess and they'd moved on through the games in her computer while they had their little chats.

"Same old." Harry shrugged before chuckling.

"What?"

"I never imagined that I'd use that when talking about exploring an alien city in another galaxy." Harry told her with a smirk.

"Did they find anything interesting?" She asked.

"Zelenka lifted a few computer cores to go through but the north pier seems to be mainly living quarters but I'll tell you this. The Ancients knew how to live in style. Some of the rooms are massive." Harry took two of her pieces before assessing the board with a military mind. He was losing but he could still turn it around given the chance. "I'd definitely suggest we draw up plans for using them."

"I think we have enough space in the tower at the moment." Elizabeth pointed out.

"I'm being optimistic, Elizabeth." Harry chuckled. "But even still if we have to take in a group of refugees and don't want them cluttering up the tower we could put them in a couple of the towers out there."

"Perhaps you can take the engineers in the expedition out there tomorrow and find the best suited of them. They can make a list of what needs to be done to make them liveable again." Elizabeth suggested.

"The north pier wore a little better than the south or west pier during the time the city was under the water. There's some damage to a few of the underwater sections and a few flooded areas that we haven't explored but the towers seem to be in pretty good condition." Harry told her as she made her move. Harry was about to continue talking when the door opened and Chuck, one of the technicians, walked in with a concerned look that Harry took in quickly.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Major Sheppard's team is overdue to report." He told them. Harry checked his watch and in fact it was true, John's team should have reported in almost twenty minutes ago.

"Has he been late before on this trip?" Harry asked.

"Not by anything more than a couple of minutes." Chuck told him.

"Dial the planet." Elizabeth told him. "And try to contact them."

"Belay that." Harry stopped Chuck from doing as told. "Open the gate but I'll do the rest."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him and Harry just shrugged. They all knew he was paranoid so there was no point pretending otherwise. Harry and Elizabeth followed Chuck into the control and watched as they dialled the gate and the wormhole opened. Chuck looked at him and Harry raised his hand to his microphone and clicked the button twice before waiting patiently. He did it again thirty seconds later when they didn't get anything back. "Can you pick up the picture from the MALP?" Harry asked to nobody in general.

There was a pause before they all looked at each other with frowns. "We're not picking up a signal."

"Could it have run out of juice?" Harry asked. "Or could Rodney have taken the battery to do something?"

"It has a back up to send a small signal back through the Gate if it runs out of power." Chuck told him. "And if Rodney had taken the battery out it would still have that back up and Rodney..."

"Would have contacted us before doing something like that." Elizabeth finished for him. Chuck nodded at her.

"So somebody either broke it or unplugged the antenna?" Harry asked.

"Most likely." Chuck frowned. "But the people on that planet don't have anything like radios. I don't see how they could take the antenna apart. Maybe they trashed the MALP."

"Take a team through, Captain." Elizabeth told him.

"I'll put a team on standby in the Gateroom but I'd rather go through alone to start with." Harry told her. "I can find out what is going on and if it's nothing I can just play it over and not stress out the locals into not giving us that ZPM."

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'll be fine." Harry promised her before turning to Chuck. "Shut it down for the time being." Chuck nodded and did as he was told just as Harry walked out of the control room, heading for the armoury for extra supplies. He only had his pistol and his Sai on him and he wanted a P-90, an M40-A3, a Wraith hand stunner and some supplies. He activated the radio that had a speaker in his ear, the military one, and addressed the Marines. "Sergeant Markham, get a team of six kitted out for a possible rescue mission and assembled in the Gateroom. I'm going through the Gate in a few minutes but I might need to call you out a little after that." He paused for a moment before adding an afterthought. "Bring camo gear for forests."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry walked out of the Stargate into a thick cloud of smoke from a canister he'd tossed through ahead of himself but didn't stay on the platform to the Stargate long and slipped down of the side and around the back of the open wormhole where he couldn't be seen. He was wearing thermal goggles and in the smoke he couldn't see all that much until he poked his head around the Gate again and saw four people just on the edge of the smoke. Harry could recognise a defensive posture very easily. Two were knelt while the other two stood a little further back.

Harry let go of his P-90 and it fell onto its clip before he pulled out the Wraith stunner and rolled clear of the wormhole long enough to take down the two sentries on the right. He rolled back behind the safety of the wormhole as he heard wild shots fly through the quickly dispersing smoke. The locals definitely didn't have guns, they were at the crossbow stage of development. He let his eyes go black as he dove into his ability and the air still unnaturally as Harry built up the pressure in the air away from them before forcing the air to gust back through him, around the Stargate and straight into the last two sentries who were completely taken off guard by the sudden wind that knocked them off balance and struck them with a wave of thick smoke. Harry took off the thermal goggle as the light hit him and rolled clear of the Stargate again to take out the last two sentries just as the smoke rolled away from them all.

Harry holstered the Wraith stunner before stilling himself and the air around him with his ability, spreading it out for a mile in all directions and then listening to the shifts nearby that could betray the presence of people. There weren't any he could sense but the further away they were and the less they moved the harder it was for him to sense their presence.

He headed for the four sentries and narrowed his eyes in anger when he recognised their uniforms as Genii soldiers, which only confirmed the suspicions he'd cultured whilst being shot at by bullets. Clearly they weren't here by coincidence. "Atlantis, this is Captain Potter, over?"

"_Harry, what's happening?"_ Elizabeth asked him quickly.

"It looks like the Genii came for a picnic." Harry told her. "The question is whether they came because they heard that the Major and his team were here or whether it's a coincidence."

"_I'm sending Sergeant Markham's team through to secure the Gate."_ Elizabeth told him and Harry didn't disagree. It would ensure a way out if the locals turned on them or if the Genii numbers were too great to take down.

"I'll find out what's happening, Elizabeth." Harry promised her just as Markham and one of their Corporals walked out of the wormhole. The rest of the team quickly came through and they spread out. "We'll report in once I know something or in thirty minutes." Harry told Elizabeth.

"_Ok, Harry."_ Elizabeth responded. "_Be careful." _With that the Stargate shut down and Harry turned back to the Marines. Markham and the Corporal were already cable tying up the four Genii soldiers.

"Get them away from the Stargate and out of sight then take up positions in the trees where you can cover the Gate but stay out of sight unless you need to break cover." Harry ordered them. "I'll report the situation to you once I know something and we'll go from there. As it stands though, remain here until the thirty minute mark and if you haven't heard from me assume something is wrong and call out a few Puddle Jumpers and do an aerial search."

"Understood Sir." Markham nodded.

"Stay on the secure radio frequency." Harry told them lastly before he jogged off down the dirt track that led to the Stargate heading towards the last place that Rodney had said they were when he last reported in. He had to report back to Markham at the twenty-five minute mark and let them update Atlantis and then twice more and it was another hour before he finally reached a large meadow surrounded by trees. It was about five hundred metres across from where he was standing and about a mile out to the sides but his attention fell on a small group of people standing around something in almost the centre of the grassy ground. He fell to the ground just behind some foliage he could see through and pulled the sniper rifle in front of him and set it up with the legs to hold the barrel.

Through the scope he had a good view and could see even the facial expressions of the four people standing over the hatch that had some sort of pulley system just above it. Clearly something was being raised or lowered into it. He frowned as he took in a haphazard pile of black equipment lying on the floor beside the opening and zoomed the scope in as far as he could until he could easily make out the distinct shape of a P-90 and the tactical vests, enough for all four of the team.

"Markham, I think I've found them. Open a wormhole to Atlantis." Harry ordered into his radio making sure, once again, that he wasn't using the same frequency that John's team would have used. By the lack of reaction from the four soldiers standing over the tactical vests he knew they couldn't hear him.

"_Roger, Sir. One moment."_ There was a long pause before Markham's voice came back. "_Atlantis, this is Sergeant Markham. I've got Captain Potter here for you."_

"_We hear you."_ Elizabeth's voice came back through the radio. "_What is it, Harry?"_

"I think I've found them. I'm at the site they were searching when they last reported in but all I've got it four Genii standing guard above an opening in the ground and their tactical gear and weapons are in a heap." Harry reported. "I think they're down in the hole since the soldiers don't seem bothered by watching the tree line like they would be if they thought the Major's team was anywhere else."

"_You can't do anything until you know what's down in that hole with them."_ Elizabeth pointed out to him.

"I know. I'll wait until I can safely take out the guards without attracting attention." Harry told her.

"_Harry, before you go. We've had an incident here."_ Elizabeth paused and Harry caught the anxious tone to her voice. "_A Dart flew over the city. We lost Malcolm and Smith in a Puddle Jumper before it scanned the city and self destructed."_

Harry was silent for a moment before he pressed the talk button. "I understand. I'll get done as soon as possible and we'll get back to Atlantis."

"_Atlantis out."_ She signed off.

"_Captain, do you have orders?"_ Markham's tone was tense, he clearly wasn't happy with anything that was happening.

"Stay by the Gate." Harry told them before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. He needed to send John a sign that he was there and ready to help them out but he'd only be able to take out the ones on the surface once he knew that John was making his move.

Making the sign was simple enough and after only a few moments of concentration the sky began to darken rapidly, going from a bright sunny day to a thick layer of angry black storm clouds all within a couple of minutes. With a colossal roar thunder ripped through the air and lightning struck at the trees across the meadows and then another at the top of a tall tree several miles away. He didn't have the time or concentration he'd need to get the lightning to strike at the soldiers and he couldn't risk it anyway. Unless John and his team were further underground in a set of tunnels that ran for miles they'd have heard that thunder and hopefully seen the flashes of light from the lightning. As good a sign that Harry was there ready to help as any flare.

He let the clouds slowly disperse again so that he could concentrate on the four men who were looking at them rather nervously and it wasn't long before John proved that he'd read the sign when a flash of intense light exploded out of the hole with a loud bang followed soon after by a bellow of grey smoke. Harry could recognise the use of a M84 Stun Grenade and he made his move firing the sniper at his first target as all four of the soldiers turned to the hole. The first, the furthest from him, fell and as the others turned to look at him Harry shot the closest one in the back, killing him with a shot to the heart. He tumbled down into the hole and only the last of the soldiers managed to dive to the ground before Harry shot him through the exposed shoulder and into his torso.

After such a loud bang from the stun grenade Harry doubted that anybody down in the hole had heard his four gunshots but the body that had fallen down the hole was a bit of an oversight for him but then again if there were any more soldiers down there it could have been a good diversion. Harry let himself grin at the idea of Rodney having a dead body fall onto the ground beside him.

Harry waited patiently for something to happen and he wasn't disappointed when the purchase on the rigged derrick began moving and Ford appeared over the edge of the hole. Harry kept a look out in case they were still in captivity but it didn't make sense for the Genii to send Ford up first when he could run. Ford got clear of the hole and looked around warily, taking in the three dead soldiers and probably trying to work out where Harry was even as he tried to work out if Harry was a friend or foe. Harry didn't give up his presence until Rodney, Teyla, a woman he didn't recognise and finally John came clear of the hole. After that John raised the purchase out of the hole and kicked the derrick to the side. Clearly he'd left soldiers down there, he'd been merciful again.

John took in the bodies before glancing up at the fading clouds before scanning the edge of the trees, he said something to the others but when he picked up his radio he didn't say anything into it or try to contact Harry in any other way. Harry made sure he was still on the secondary frequency before he spoke, so he could talk to Markham's team and nobody else. "Sergeant Markham, Major Sheppard's team is secure. What's your situation?"

"_We're all clear here, Captain."_ Markham told him.

"Good, stay where you are and stay hidden until we arrive and change back to the primary frequency after this message." Harry didn't wait for a response before he changed his own radio frequency and spoke just as soon as he saw John slide his earpiece in before telling the others to do the same. Rodney looked confused for a moment but fished out the earpiece and connected it. Harry grinned at how well he and John knew each other in situations like this. "Major Sheppard, Lieutenant Ford, Teyla and Rodney. Good to see you well but I do wish I didn't have to keep coming to save you."

He paused and watched as Rodney looked around in surprise before John started talking to the woman in the group, sending Rodney a sharp look. They began walking towards the trees perhaps thirty metres to Harry's left, where a dirt track led back in the direction of the Stargate. It was clear that John wanted Harry's presence kept a secret. Clearly he was just as paranoid as Harry was. He saw, trough the scope, as Ford grabbed Rodney's arm and leaned in close, hissing a few words in his ear to stop Rodney from blowing the game. Teyla wouldn't need it explained to her. "For you information I'm in the tree line at eleven o'clock and yes Rodney I can see you with the scope on this Sniper." Harry paused as Rodney stumbled and glared angrily at being made fun of. "Good work on getting the ZPM but you need to hurry it back to the Gate. Markham and six Marines are hiding there but we've got a situation back in Atlantis."

Harry focused the Sniper onto John as he said this and saw him glance at Teyla who got the hint and moved level with the local woman and began talking to her as they walked while John dropped back discreetly before tapping his earpiece to speak. "_What situation?"_

"They lost a Jumper and two men to a Wraith Dart about half an hour ago." Harry told him honestly and watched as John gritted his teeth. "I don't know the details but we'd better get back there soon."

Harry watched the group disappear into the trees before he derigged the Sniper and slung it back over his shoulder and then, with his P-90 in hand, he trailed them along the path reporting in to Markham's group every half hour. Markham reported John's team as safe to Atlantis soon after they had left.

They were perhaps half way back before things turned bad. Harry came around a corner and found himself closer than he'd expected and he slunk down into the trees to study the scene. The group had come to a stop and were surrounded by what seemed to be locals holding Genii weapons. Harry could almost believe they were Genii except they didn't seem all that confident in using the weapons. Harry growled at the betrayal and sighted along the P-90 but he already knew that there was nothing to be done. John's team were outnumbered almost thirty to four and even with Harry's element of surprise and hidden position they'd never get out of this without John's team taking serious and probably fatal injuries.

The two groups exchanged a few words but the ambushers walked away in the end with the local woman, who seemed to have been their leader, and most importantly the ZPM. John turned to look back up the path as soon as they were alone again and made a curt gesture knowing that Harry would be somewhere up that way and Harry left the cover of the trees and quickly jogged the twenty odd metres to his position. John looked pissed off, very pissed off.

"Those bastards set us up!" John hissed to Harry.

"I noticed." Harry sighed. "But unless you want me to call Markham's team and go hunting we can't do anything about it."

"I don't want to hurt so many people for a ZPM." John shook his head.

"But..." Rodney spoke up.

"They're not Genii, Rodney." Teyla interrupted him.

"Let's get back to Atlantis." John declared.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few days later**

Harry spun around on a bent knee, dropped backwards onto his hands and kicked Teyla's legs out from under her before the wind shoved past her and gave him the force to flip over backwards. The wind took him a few yards back before he landed on one knee. He dropped to the ground to dodge a swing of a rattan stick and then rolled once to the right and onto his back and kicked up so he was standing again before smirking at John who had been the one to strike at him. "Nice try." Harry told him as Teyla got back to her feet and squared off with him again.

They were fighting out on the eastern pier with its wide open space because Teyla had remembered Harry's original claim that he was a better fighter out in the open, though neither she nor John had known at the time that he meant because of his affinity with the air around him. He wasn't using any active control over the weather but his unconscious thoughts bent the air around him, letting him move through it quicker and helping him keep his balance through moves that would have over balanced even a Grand Master of the art. When they'd first come out here, along with Ford, Rodney and Elizabeth, Harry had demonstrated what his ability gave him in way of advantages with a rather intricate displays of Katas that Teyla admitted were beyond her ability and while not beyond Harry's ability when he was indoors were much more refined out in the open space.

To make things a little fairer John was helping Teyla against Harry and both were armed with Rattan sticks whereas Harry was mostly sweeping and dodging. Harry waited as John moved around to stand nearer to Teyla and laughed when he turned and looked at Ford who shrugged and took off his jacket. "Can you take the three of us?"

"Take you? Probably not." Harry admitted. The edge he was afforded was useful but not enough to do serious damage. "But I've got more chance of taking you out then you have of taking me out."

"That sounds like a challenge." John pointed out with a grin, which only made Ford groan. "Let's go!"

Teyla and Ford made a strike directly at Harry which he avoided by rolling backwards away from Ford's punch and under Teyla round house kick and as he came to his feet John swung a stick at his head. Harry moved out of the way but as John's strike passed in front of him the air seemed to thicken around his arm and the strike, slowing it down enough for Harry to move forwards, take the stick in his right and his arm in his left hand and twisted them apart before he put his left leg behind his superiors legs and pulled back with his left arm, sending John onto his back with a painful grunt.

Harry moved away as Ford took a few shots at him and he parried with the man for a few moments before jumping backwards into a back flip as Teyla tried to sneak up on his side but with his unconscious control of the air it was hard for the woman, breathing so harshly, to sneak up on him. Ford found himself surprised as Teyla ended up in front of him and quicker than they could follow Harry feinted at Teyla making her dodge in the only natural way, straight backwards and to the left, straight into Ford as he moved the same way making Teyla stumble. Suddenly finding the air less dense under herself she fell onto one knee and Harry stepped to her side and pinned her neck, gently, under his knee. When Ford tried to retaliate Harry rolled to his right away from, the now 'out', Teyla and stood up and Ford, now finding himself one on one with his Captain, swallowed nervously.

They once again parried for a few moments as John and Teyla sat back and watched with the two doctors but it was clear that Harry's movements weren't restricted by the air his arms had to move through whereas Ford found himself handicapped as he had to put more effort into his strikes. Harry ended the fist fight when he knocked Ford's right arm away, stepped up so they were mere inches apart, dodged to Ford's right and brought his own right arm across his chest to knock him back to the ground. Harry followed him down until he was perched on a knee and pressed his right hand down on the Lieutenant's chest.

"That was impressive." Elizabeth told him as she and Rodney came closer.

"Why weren't your eyes that funny colour?" Rodney asked him as he stood and helped Ford up.

"I'm not consciously telling my abilities to do anything." Harry told them all. "When I create a storm, or make it rain it happens because I focus everything I have onto the task or because I'm already manipulating and my emotions feed it. Like if I'm trying to make it rain and somebody makes me angry and I create a thunderstorm instead."

"Like in..." John forced his mouth closed.

"Like in Brazil." Harry finished for him with a shrug to show he didn't really mind. "I wanted to create enough wind and lightning to scare them and knock down the buildings but when I lost control of my emotions and went into shock I fed the storm up into the higher sustainable region and it took a life of its own and added tornados and hail because of what I was feeling at the time."

"So, how does it work when you're fighting like this?" Ford asked. "I felt like I was trying to fight underwater."

"I suppose you could call my ability sentient..." Harry started.

"Technically you can't..." Rodney started but Harry glared at him and he closed his mouth.

"As I was saying." Harry continued ignoring Ford's snicker. "If you think of them as sentient then when my mind associates somebody as an enemy then they work to give me an edge against them, making my movements easier and the enemy's harder."

"If you can thicken the air and thin it unconsciously then why don't you just stop them being able to fight? Take away the air completely." John asked.

"My abilities don't have that sort of power without me fully concentrating on them." Harry told him. "Thankfully."

"Thankfully?" Ford asked.

"In this state they react to what I think and feel." Harry told him rather a bit more coldly. "I was thinking that I wanted the three of you to have more of a struggle so they handicapped you to the best of their abilities and aided me. In the same way I can walk across a rope at height before the wind steadies me whether I concentrate on it or not."

"So?" Rodney asked.

"If they had more power they'd do more. I could get angry at something and a thunderstorm would start and so on." Harry told him. "At least this way I can't kill people without really concentrating on it."

"That's a good point." Elizabeth pointed out seeing where Harry was coming from. Nobody wanted to think of what could happen in a room full of people if Harry's abilities could unconsciously empty the room of air because somebody pissed him off. Neither did Harry.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later**

Harry leaned on one of the consoles in the control room so he could see the screen that Zelenka and Rodney were standing on either side of. Teyla, John and Elizabeth were also there and he could see around them without a problem though he was staying back out of the way. He had walked in just after they started this impromptu meeting and rather than interrupt he'd hung near the back. After the brush with the Dart that had scanned the city before self destructing they'd turned the City's newly discovered long range sensors in the direction it had come from and found three approaching Wraith Hive ships, the same size as the one that Harry had been held captive on and then destroyed in the centre of a massive storm.

Zelenka had been studying their approach over the last few days and discovered that they were stopping periodically at planets along the route, presumably to feed and that gave them an opportunity which John had clearly realised as well since he'd been the one to just suggest taking a Puddle Jumper through the Gate to one of those planets and then linger in space, cloaked, while the Hive ships flew passed in order to assess the strength of the approaching enemy. Teyla was going to go with John since she knew the settlers on one of the planets but the smaller the party the better in this situation so the rest of their team would remain behind.

The group meeting finished and Elizabeth and John turned around. John raised an amused eyebrow at him but wasn't shocked to see him but Elizabeth jumped rather amusingly. "Good hunting." Harry told John who flashed him a quick smile which Harry had to admit made the danger seem rather less. Everyone went their separate ways but Harry stayed where he was, looking at the blinking dot on the celestial chart and thinking. He couldn't really do much damage to them. The best case scenario was if they all came down into the atmosphere to feed on the city, in that case he could bring down a storm but if they came down too close to the city the storm would damage the city and since it would have to be a big storm to take out a Hive ship it would probably destroy the city and all of them as well. Maybe if the ships came down a long way from the city he might have a shot at them.

The alternative was to try an EMP like burst like he'd used against the nano-virus since they'd already proved that it didn't do any damage to the Ancient systems but there was nothing saying it would do anything to the Hives and a big enough burst would render Harry completely senseless and most likely put him in a coma, if not kill him outright. Harry didn't think that Elizabeth would like the idea of losing him on the less than likely chance of doing the Hives any damage. The only real damage that Harry could do was if he could get onto the ships before they joined in battle. Using his ability to either suffocate or smother the Wraith in the ships was easy for him relatively speaking and if they were lucky it would give them a couple of Hives to poke around inside but the chances of Harry getting inside one before the battle was slim and even less so of getting from one to another.

Thus any chance they had relied on Rodney's new plan to send a message back through the Stargate. He and Harry had been throwing ideas back and forth about using Harry's ability to funnel lightning into the Gate in order to power it back to the Milky Way galaxy but had come to the conclusion that even if he could manage to build up enough power they'd have to funnel it from the lightning towers around the city and straight to the Stargate which would electrocute everybody within the main tower. Even if they worked out a way to dial the Gate and send their message back to Earth without actually doing it themselves the burst of power through areas of the city not built for it would probably destroy the central tower.

But by coupling all of the Naquada Generators together they would be able to just about make a connection and according to Rodney's simulations they'd have one-point-three seconds to send a highly compressed data burst. They could send all of their mission reports and all of the Ancient database that they'd managed to decipher so far. And that still left them with space for several hours worth of visual recordings so they could all send a message back to their loved ones.

Now Harry's only worry, since he couldn't go with John and Teyla, was whether or not he should send a message back or not. There was nobody in his old life that he'd try to contact in a situation like this. When on Earth he'd always send Hermione, Neville, Remus and Luna a letter once in a while but only normally if he actually had something to talk to them about which wasn't much. The only ones out of them that he wanted to visit in the nearer future were Neville and Luna to try to talk them out of naming him as their daughter's godfather. He hadn't bothered before hand and he hadn't expected to be offworld like this when she was born but he couldn't really send them a message from here and, remembering Luna's letter to him before the Nimitz' carrier group had been destroyed, she already had a vague idea where Harry was.

That left only one person he'd ever think to send a message to. Jessica, especially since it was now close to eight months since he'd been out here and he would have almost definitely missed her wedding. He'd never sent her a message before from a posting since normally they where cover operations and sending mail out wasn't an option but this was an exceptional circumstance and it could very well be the last time he ever saw her.

By the next morning he'd made his decision and he headed up to Elizabeth's office knowing that she'd asked Ford to do her recordings first thing in the morning. Harry paused in the doorway listening as she spoke and though she saw him she didn't take her attention off of the video recorder that Ford was operating.

"Her keen curiosity are just some of the qualities that your daughter displayed during her duties as a scientist on my team." Elizabeth was saying and Harry knew she was doing obituaries. "She and several of her colleagues died suddenly just a few weeks ago. I am not at liberty to reveal the cause of her death, but I can tell you that, during her time here, Doctor Dumais was a part of something very profound. She saw and did things she never would have dreamed of before. It was an honour to have her among my team and you have my deepest sympathies at this time."

Harry waited patiently as she went through a list of those they had lost in the course of the expedition and Harry just listened. He felt it was better that she did the military ones as well since it would be better for their families to hear of their deaths from somebody like Elizabeth and not a stoic military figure. There were two that Harry had agreed to do if John didn't, one was a Corporal whose entire family for several generations had been either government or military and also one of the scientists who was British by nature. Harry would speak to his parents as a British face. That left only Colonel Sumner to John to do but neither Harry nor Elizabeth had mentioned it to him yet. He didn't need to be reminded of what had happened to Sumner when he was about to face off with a fleet of Wraith ships.

It was almost twenty minutes before she finished and looked up with a depressed air about her. "I'll finish my personal message later." She told Ford knowing that it wouldn't be fair to the person she sent it to to see her so upset. "Harry?"

"I thought I'd catch Ford after you were done and record a message of my own." Harry told her and saw the surprised looks on both of their faces though neither thought it wise to actually comment on it.

"I'll go get a cup of tea, did you want one?" She offered them both as she stood. Harry and Ford both shook their heads and she smiled at Harry as she left.

Harry sat on the edge of her desk and Ford readjusted the camera stand so he was in view. "You want me to leave, Sir?" Ford asked.

"It's not confidential, Lieutenant, and this is going to be watched by Military Intelligence before it gets to where it's supposed to go. It's a bit pointless worrying about you hearing it in that case isn't it?" Harry pointed out and Ford nodded in understanding.

"Whenever you're ready." Ford prompted as the red light on the front came on.

"This is a message for Jessica Fletcher, or if she's already married then she is my next of kin and hopefully left a change of details like I told her to." Harry paused for a moment and glanced out of the side window to gather his thoughts. "Jessica, I know you're probably shocked and horrified that I've sent you a message but the circumstances are a little more extreme than my normal run-of-the-mill ones and I left far too abruptly this time and I didn't know where I was going. The thing is Jessy, I'm a lot further out of reach then we expected and communication with the civilised world is a lot harder than normal. In fact before this message I doubt the Air Force has known where we've been. All I can say to you is that I'll try to come see you soon but you're used to not knowing. It could be a year from now, even longer, or I could walk up to your door tomorrow morning."

Harry paused again and wisely Ford didn't move or shut off the camera. Harry sighed before continuing. "You've never let me say it before even though it's always been a chance but since I'm talking and for once you have to listen I'll say it now. My job's hard and its dangerous and at least that's not something that's changed with this latest mission but if something happens to me I want you to remember something for me. I want you to be happy, with or without Josh, with or without me. If something happens to me then you can take refuge in the fact that there was no other way for me to get through it, I'm a hard one to hurt and I've survived worse than this before and I've overcome greater odds so you don't have to worry for me. Look out for your sister and keep sticking those pictures on your door wherever you are now and don't take any crap from anybody. Keep looking up at the sky, Jessy."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	12. Siege

Cast Between Worlds

A/N; Please read the message in bold at the top of my profile regarding updates. Please enjoy.

A/N2; For those interested in the scene that follows on from this chapter (NC-17) then go to my AFF profile to read it. The link is under my homepage on this site.

Chapter 12; Siege

**Atlantis T-10 days**

Harry looked over the latest reports that had come in from the field. They'd sent a science team to the planet where Harry had sunk the Wraith Hive Ship he had been captured on to assess the damage caused by the lightning, trying to find out how much power it would take to do such damage but the results were coming up short. They knew that they could take out Darts with lightning strikes but aiming them was impossible so there was no way Harry could use that to take out Darts flying around the city since the lightning would merely hit the city and not the flying Darts. Creating winds hard enough to take out the Darts was also concerning Harry. He didn't think that winds were much of a problem for the alien ships but John and he were due to go up the next day with a Puddle Jumper to test it and see how much the engines were affected by the winds. They'd had a short test back when John had taken a Jumper through to rescue Harry but nobody had been paying attention then.

Harry had basically spent the last few days working with the base personnel to find a way to counter the Wraith attack and then spending every free moment he could either training with the Marines or working with Rodney to find out if having Harry use his powers was worth it. He was waiting now for the meeting to begin where Harry would let the others decide whether the risks were worth it.

He glanced up as Chuck coughed less than subtly and raised an eyebrow at him. "The meeting started already, Sir." Chuck told him with an amused smile.

"One day I'm going to have a day without a meeting and I'll die of shock." Harry grumbled before standing up and heading towards the meeting room opposite the control room. There were only a select few in the room. Elizabeth was there and she shook her head as Harry snuck in and claimed a seat around the table. John was on his left followed by Taylor, Elizabeth, Rodney, Ford and finally Carson sitting on Harry's right.

"Nice of you to join us, Captain." Elizabeth greeted.

"Thank you for waiting." Harry answered back in the same tone.

"As I was saying." Rodney rolled his eyes. "Captain Potter and I have been looking at whether using his ability will do us any good in the long run."

"Basically there are two things I can do." Harry straightened up deciding that since it was his life they were talking about it was up to him to describe it. "I can either pull up a storm like I did when I was captured or I can create an EM burst. The latter of which obviously has the advantage that I can do it against something in space."

"We think." Rodney interrupted.

"Maybe we should test it?" John offered.

"Except we don't know how my abilities will react in such a scenario and it could drain me a hell of a lot more than the last time I did it." Harry pointed out.

"Which as we recall caused serious, if temporary, problems to your nervous system." Carson joined in. "Not something I'd advise."

"So that's the situation with that." Harry explained. "I could probably do it in space against a ship but I can't test it without risking my health. Obvious that means when it comes down to defending the city it is an option. Something we can try if we have to."

"You're forgetting the other hitch..." Rodney started.

"I didn't forget it, Rodney." Harry narrowed his eyes to shut him up.

"What?" John asked.

"We have no proof that an EM burst will even effect Wraith technology." Harry shrugged. "It has no effect on the Ancient equipment and that's proven, so we have no idea whether it will affect any other alien technology."

"And obviously Wraith technology seems to be based on organic components which we know aren't affected." Rodney pointed out.

"So when it comes to the attack I could kill myself to produce a massive EM burst right in the middle of their ships using a stealthed Jumper." Harry offered. "Only for it to do the square route of nothing."

"That sucks." Ford grumbled.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Harry chuckled. "Which leaves us with the conventional way to do it. Create a storm powerful enough to take out anything that tries to land."

"And what are the limitations there?" Elizabeth asked.

"To create a storm powerful enough to wipe out three Hive Ships, several Cruisers and god knows how many Darts?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "If I could do it I'd probably kill myself."

"Probably?" John asked.

"Okay." Harry sighed. "I'd definitely kill myself."

"Well that isn't an option." John pointed out.

"Just wait there a moment." Harry argued. "It is an option. I'm here to protect the expedition."

"We're not going to talk about you sacrificing yourself." John told him. "Ever. Understand _Captain_?"

"Major." Harry replied but that didn't seem to be enough to convince John or Elizabeth.

"We'll make that an order then." John told him and glanced at Elizabeth who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Sir." Harry sighed. "Which leaves it at trying to create something strong enough to do the damage without killing me but there's still risks there. I can create a storm system with Atlantis in the centre but if I lose control of it, it'll move to the west and do major damage to the city."

"If we do that isn't that going to cause problems for anyone we have outside?" John asked.

"It shouldn't." Harry shook his head. "I'd have to place the low pressure cell over the city. It would be like the eye of a storm. I'd have to create a hurricane, not a lightning storm or similar or it'd destroy the city. The air inside the storm should be peaceful."

"Which leads us to the disadvantages." Rodney led the conversation on.

"Space ships can fly vertically." Ford guessed rightly and Harry nodded in agreement.

"The only way I could prevent that is to create a super storm which would then affect the air in the upper atmosphere and turn it into a rip tide." Harry explained.

"I'm going to guess there'd be a problem with that somewhere." Elizabeth sighed, getting used to the way this conversation was going.

"It would suck the cold upper atmosphere down onto the city." Harry shrugged.

"Being how cold?" Ford asked.

"Zero Kelvin." Rodney pointed out.

"Minus two hundred and seventy odd Celsius." Harry added. "Everybody in the city would be frozen solid in seconds."

"So that's definitely out then?" John asked.

"There is a possibility." Harry sighed. "If I accidentally grew the storm that powerful and it began to do that I could create a secondary weather pocket on the inside nearer to the city to force the freezing air out into the hurricane wall."

"Which would do what?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not a clue." Harry shrugged. "It's not like I've ever tried it and it can't be done naturally."

"We think it would work but testing it could destroy the planet's ecosystem." Rodney pointed out. "If it doesn't kill Captain Potter."

"Let's just sum this up." Elizabeth sighed. "Basically you can help defend the city but whichever way you do it the stronger and more effective it is the more risk you are at."

Harry nodded. "It's that exactly."

"Then what do you think?" John asked him.

"I've already told you that." Harry pointed out simply. "If I use an EM burst it might do nothing so I'd rather go conventional and I'd only build up a storm as far as I can control it and not harm the city. If I kill myself and the storm shifts it would wipe out the city."

"I think that even when we ignore the chance of it killing you or permanently harming you." Elizabeth started. "We still have to take that into account. It could do the city serious damage if you lose control of it. That's not a chance I'm willing to take."

"In which case you're saying not to use my abilities?" Harry asked though he and Rodney had already known that was what they'd agree. The risks were just too great. She nodded and Harry glanced at John who nodded to show he agreed as well. "I would still like to ask permission to begin building up a storm two days before the attack is due. I can keep it at bay easily enough and just move air around and start to form a low pressure dip. That way if it comes to it I can create a storm quickly with the least energy from myself and be able to control it better."

"That's not a bad idea. Even if we only use a small one it would be better to have one quickly." John nodded to show he agreed.

"Alright." Elizabeth nodded. "But Rodney and Carson are to monitor you at all times."

"Fun." Harry chuckled.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**T-8 days**

Harry sat on his balcony using the wall of the tower to lean his back on letting the cold air brush against his exposed chest and bare feet. He'd just been training with the marines and had a shower and as the night had crept in he had merely pulled on a light pair of trousers and gone out onto the balcony.

He was rather worried about Teyla. They'd recently found out that she was a very small part Wraith and while that didn't change anyone's concept of her it did mean they'd decided to see what she could do and had tried to access the mind of one of the Wraith in the Hive Ship. That had only ended with Teyla being taken over and only Sergeant Bates and Harry's decision to take Wraith stunners with them had stopped the possessed Teyla from wreaking havoc in the city.

His door chimed and he shouted for whoever it was to come inside. A few seconds later John walked out onto the balcony and saw him sitting on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Relaxing?" Harry offered.

"Mind if I join you?" John asked.

Harry eyed his uniform and radio. "Not like that you're not." Harry said eyeing the radio.

John looked surprised but shrugged, took off his radio and put it on the banister before he pulled off his boots and socks and finally unzipped his jacket, pulled it off and then finally pulled his t-shirt over his head and sat down at Harry's side probably close to Harry's own state of undress expect he was presumably wearing boxers.

Harry laughed. "I only meant the radio."

John laughed but then shrugged. "It's a nice night out." He said in defence. "And it's a nice excuse to get out of uniform."

"John?" Harry asked eventually. "What do you think of our chances of doing this?"

"Doing what?" John asked.

"Fending off the Wraith." Harry prompted.

"Slim to none." John shrugged. "But I've had worse odds and so have you."

"What we're going to have to do is evacuate before they get here." Harry sighed.

"I don't like the idea of running." John told him.

"If it's a fight you're looking for then you'll get one eventually." Harry pointed out.

"I don't want a fight." John told him. "I want a way to protect us so that we can be living out here and not just surviving. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I know perfectly what you mean." Harry told him. "I spent my childhood just surviving and it wasn't until I joined the Royal Air Force that I started actually living."

"Harry?" John asked and Harry tilted his head to actually look at him. John was sitting with his knees crooked and his arms resting on the top of his knees. Harry glanced only briefly down at his chest. "I want to say this but just for a minute I want to forget about rank, forget about our duties and forget about where we are and what we have to be."

"So basically you want to be on Earth?" Harry asked.

"And in a bar somewhere." John laughed but nodded.

"Alright John. Whatever you say stays on this balcony." Harry nodded back.

"I know you like me, Harry." John started and looked over at him. "Even if she hadn't told me I'd know that and you know I like you."

"But saying that doesn't change anything." Harry pointed out.

"But do you like me?" John asked. "If you do then you can say it now knowing that it doesn't change anything."

"Admitting to something like that is exactly what changes things, John." Harry sighed.

"Maybe that's what we need to do." John offered but didn't say anything else.

Harry bit his lip. "Alright John, we'll do this your way. I like you, alright?" John smiled at him but Harry wasn't smiling back as easily. "What exactly does that change, John?"

"I don't know." John sighed.

"It's all very good admitting that when we're sitting here pretending we don't have our duties, our ranks and aren't in a fight for our lives." Harry sighed.

"For starters, for me at least, our ranks wouldn't stop me." John told him. "Neither would having to fight for our lives."

"Then it's our duty." Harry argued. "We have to concentrate on that regardless of the cost to ourselves."

"I know." John sighed. "But maybe with the way we feel for each other in our minds we can have something to really fight for. Beyond fighting just to survive we can fight to have a life."

Harry chuckled and turned to look at John. "If we ever get back to Earth and can put our duties aside..." Harry let that trail off knowing that John knew what he meant.

John nodded and turned to look at him and Harry, on the spur of the moment leaned in and extremely lightly pressed a kiss to John's lips. He lingered for a moment so that John could respond and they shared a small kiss before Harry pulled back and took in a deep breath.

"I know." John sighed. "What we say here stays out of our lives."

"Because we're not on Earth." Harry nodded and put his head back on the wall and merely relaxed as the wind ran across them both. Nothing more was said for an hour before eventually John left to sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**T-5 days**

Harry watched from the side as John, Teyla and Ford came through the gate firing behind them even though it would do nothing against an incoming wormhole. The shield went up just before the gate shut down and Harry finished walking down the steps. He'd kept out of the way because he didn't have a P-90 but he still holstered his 9mm as he got to the bottom.

"This is what I mean, Major!" Sergeant Bates almost shouted. "Taking her along is a risk."

"What are you talking about?" Teyla complained but Harry already knew what this was about. Bates was concerned that whatever link Teyla had opened with the Wraith was giving away what she knew to their enemy. Harry had to agree that the possibility was there and he'd already spoken to the Sergeant about it and promised to give it serious thought but apart from restricting Teyla to her quarters he didn't know what else he could do about it.

"I'm talking about you giving away information to the Wraith!" Bates argued. "I understand you're not doing it intentionally but..."

"That's enough, Sergeant." John almost growled out. "It wasn't even the Wraith. It was some sort of..." He trailed off with a look back at Ford.

"T-rex or something." Ford told them and Harry couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"My argument still stands, Major." Bates recovered. "We shouldn't allow her to move freely..."

"That's enough, Sergeant!" John told him sharply. Bate restrained himself from glaring at the Major and left the room but not without a glance at Harry who had been waiting to the side rather than involve himself. Teyla shoved her P-90 at Ford before taking off in the same direction.

Harry sighed and moved to walk at John's side. Ever since that night on the balcony there had been a small shift in their friendship. They'd come to an understanding that they were friends and would be more if they could but that they'd merely survive on this at the moment until they could live as more. Just as they would survive in Atlantis until they could really live here. "You know he has a point." Harry said quietly as they entered the corridors leading to the lifts.

"Don't you start arguing too." John groaned.

"I'm not arguing with anyone." Harry pointed out. "Merely pointing out what you're already thinking. We trust Teyla but we don't trust anybody using her eyes without her knowing."

"_If_ somebody is using her eyes." John corrected.

"If..." Harry conceded before trailing off. They turned the corner just in time to see Teyla smash her elbow into Bates' face sending him lurching backwards. John grabbed her and pulled her back and Harry took a few steps forwards, putting himself between Teyla and a furious Bates and he didn't need to touch Bates as he made to lurch at Teyla. Harry's presence brought the six year older man to a halt and Bates shook as he restrained himself knowing that he couldn't get past Harry and not wanting to anger Harry by attacking a senior officer when he knew he'd already lost before he started.

"That's enough!" John shouted, struggling to keep Teyla still. "Teyla!"

"I haven't finished with him!" Teyla told John.

"Yes you have!" John threw her back putting himself between her and Harry and holding her at arm's length. "I don't care what he said!"

"Get out of here, Sergeant." Harry hissed dangerously and Bates threw a glare over Harry's shoulder at Teyla and backed away down the corridor. Harry turned to Teyla just in time to see John have to restrain her again. "If you're trying to prove him wrong that isn't the way to do it." Harry told her with the same tone of voice.

"You don't go around decking the Head of Security!" John told her as she finally stopped struggling. "No matter what he says." He cut her off as she went to speak.

Teyla stormed off back down the corridor and John shook his head and turned to Harry. "Don't." John told him simply. Harry held up his hands in surrender.

"She's not the only one that needs to calm down and rest a little." Harry said simply. "Get some sleep. I'll be out on my balcony tomorrow morning at four if you want to sit for a while." Harry told him in invitation before turning and leaving. Since that night sitting together John had come out to sit with him a few times. They hadn't kissed again or even touched and not even really spoken to each other. Merely sat on the balcony and relaxed before or after the hard days leading up to the attack.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**T-4 days**

Harry walked into the control room knowing that John would be there soon. They'd spent the last three hours sitting in silence and then gone for a spar in the training room before going for showers before the day started. "How's the mission to the satellite going?" Harry asked Elizabeth. Rodney had come up with a way of powering an abandoned Ancient Satellite about fifteen hours away by Jumper and had taken Lieutenant Miller and Peter Grodin with him to try to repair it before the Wraith ships past it at about six pm this evening.

"They're set up." Elizabeth told him. "Just a matter of finding out if it's still working. We should know more..." She trailed off as both heard a voice in their comms sets.

"_Captain Potter, we've got a situation in Generator One."_ Sergeant Markham announced.

"Roger, Sergeant." Harry said bluntly. "I'm on my way."

"_Med team too, Sir."_ Markham elaborated. Harry glanced at Elizabeth who nodded to show she'd get a message to Carson. Harry broke into a run as soon as he was out of the control room and within twenty seconds he was down the stairs to the Generator room that powered the Stargate controls and primary systems. There were already three Marines in the room. Markham and Corporal Howitz. Markham was checking over the third Marine who was laid out unconscious. Sergeant Bates.

Harry quickly got to his knees. "He's been beaten pretty bad, Sir." Markham informed him. "Breathing is light."

Harry didn't have time to do much before two med-techs ran into the room and took in the scene. Harry stood to clear the way as his mind scanned through everything that he could see in the room looking for anything that could do such damage but it was too obvious that he'd been beaten up by another person. In the end he had only one thing he could do and that was make sure that he knew exactly where Teyla was.

"Sergeant Markham." Harry turned to him. "Take the Corporal and ensure the whereabouts of Teyla."

"You want us to arrest her?" Markham sounded shocked.

"No, Sergeant." Harry told him. "Just find out where she is and make sure you keep knowing where she is."

"Yes, Sir." Markham nodded before running from the room at a quick jog with the Corporal behind him just as Carson entered along with a stretcher team. Harry stood to the side as the team checked the Sergeant over and finally lifted him onto the stretcher.

"Give me a call once you've got him sorted out." Harry told Carson as they left the room and Harry went over the room searching for anything out of place. In the worst case scenario Teyla had been taken over by a Wraith and had been planting a bomb in the room and Bates had stumbled across her. Markham and Howitz would have instantly reported to him if they'd seen anything or heard anything. They'd probably merely looked into the room and found Bates like that.

John arrived five minutes later to find Harry leaning against the wall thinking. "What happened?" John asked him.

"Not sure yet." Harry grumbled. "Markham and Howitz found Bates unconscious. Severe beating by the looks of it."

"Is he alright?" John asked.

"I'm going to head up to the infirmary in a second." Harry told him as he pushed himself off of the wall. "There's nothing else in here."

"What do you think likely then?" John asked.

"The only explanation so far that is logical is that Teyla was overcome by a Wraith again and was in here trying to sabotage the generator when Bates found her and she attacked him." Harry told John and ignored the hard look on John's face. "Don't look at me like that John, you know it's a possibility."

"What about alternatives?" John asked.

"Somebody in the expedition attacked Bates for no other reason than they didn't like him." Harry offered. "Which again makes Teyla the main subject since she is the only one to have a reason to not like him and on top of that she did attack him in the hallway yesterday."

"I don't like where this is going." John told him.

"Either way I've got Markham and Howitz ensuring her whereabouts at the moment." Harry informed his senior officer as they started down the corridor heading for the infirmary.

"_Captain Potter, this is Sergeant Markham."_ Their radios came to life. _"We're in station."_

Harry was grateful for a moment that Markham had the sense not to declare over the net that they were basically placing Teyla under house arrest. "Any trouble?" Harry asked.

"_Nothing, Sir."_ Markham informed him.

"Remain on post, Sergeant." Harry told him. "Potter out."

They arrived in the infirmary and waited near the wall as Carson and his team finished doing everything they could for Bates. Ford and Elizabeth eventually joined them and Harry caught them up with everything that had happened.

"Anything on the body to show what happened?" John asked Carson after the doctor had called them over and told them that Bates would be alright in a few days time if not a little sore.

"I've got a team of forensics looking over his body and clothes for any clue. I'll let you know as soon as I have anything." Carson promised.

"Why don't we go get Teyla's side of the story?" John suggested to Ford and Harry nodded to show that he agreed.

"I'll return up to the control room." Harry told him. "I want to keep an eye on Rodney if I can." John nodded but neither said that the other reason was because Teyla knew that Harry was in agreement with Bates' suspicion and they didn't want Teyla getting angry when she found out that her guards were on Harry's orders.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two hours later**

Harry quickly jogged down the hallway with Ford, Teyla and two Marines behind him. He was carrying a stun weapon as was Ford but they all had P-90s. After talking to Teyla John had been less convinced over Harry's options and Carson's team had found traces of Wraith DNA on Bates' body and they'd used the bio-sensors that Rodney had found when the Ascended Ancient had been here before to track the Wraith in real time. Now they were closing him in and John's team was on the other side waiting for Harry's team to close the trap and attack from both directions.

"_We're in position_." John reported to him.

"We're a few minutes away." Harry declared. In order to get clear around they'd had to go by a really long route.

"_Just let me know..."_ John trailed off but the mic. remained open and a few seconds later they heard an explosion and the distinct sounds of a Wraith stunner. Harry shot forwards into a sprint and the others followed even as he counted the stunner shots. Four which meant that all four of John's team were probably down. The definite lack of return firer suggested that to be true.

It took them another minute at full speed to reach the room and Harry pulled up the stunner and fired two shots into the back of the Wraith even as the creature made to feed from John. He gritted his teeth as the Wraith slumped to the ground and Ford and one of the other Marines rolled him onto his back and began to restrain him while the other Marine checked on the other three unconscious men. Harry and Teyla crouched at a delirious John's side and Harry checked his breathing even as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Carson, I need four stretchers and med teams on my position now." Harry ordered knowing that Carson had teams on standby already. They'd be here in a few minutes. "Doctor Weir. The Wraith is in our custody."

"_What happened?"_ Elizabeth asked.

"The Wraith got the jump on Major Sheppard's team before my team were in position." Harry told her before looking over at the Wraith and the radio in his hand. "He's been monitoring our comms."

"_Report to me when Carson has John's team secured."_ She told him.

Harry turned to Ford and Teyla. "Take the other two with you and put the Wraith in the holding cell before he wakes up." Harry ordered. "I'll watch these guys until Carson gets here."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That evening**

Harry didn't show any sign that he was saddened by the death of Peter Grodin. He didn't ever react like that to deaths when he was being looked to as an authority figure but he always felt for the loss and normally turned that anger against his enemy. A prime example was when the Genii had stormed Atlantis and killed two of their Marines. John and Harry had shown their true colours then by turning that anger into utter ruthlessness towards their enemies. Suddenly the two normal men had become Black Ops specialists who saw no reason for taking prisoners.

Now Rodney, Lieutenant Miller and Peter Grodin had succeeded in destroying one of the three Hive ships heading for them and delayed their progress but at the cost of Peter Grodin who hadn't been able to escape from the satellite after they'd rerouted power to get the weapon running again. For everyone else in the room it was a sad day but to Harry these particular Wraith had just fired the first shot against them. Atlantis might have fired the better shot but to those in the control room this particular battle was now real. These Wraith had just killed one of them and that wouldn't be forgotten once their ships arrived.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**T-1 day**

Harry wasn't surprised when a few days later the decision was made by the expeditions leaders to evacuate to the new Alpha site. And by the time day began to break Harry was standing in the control room as the next group was getting ready to go through the gate with some more of their supplies. He glanced out of the window as John and Elizabeth walked out of her office to look up at the sky outside. He'd been building a very low pressure cell over Atlantis and while it was not that strong it was quite small, only just larger than the centre of the city. It meant that there was a strong wind flowing through the city's structures in a circle but if he needed to he could stretch that low pressure to cover the entire city and thus decrease the pressure even further as it expanded.

He guessed that within two minutes he could turn the weather outside, which was already miserable with rain, thunder and wind under black clouds, into a torrential hurricane. It would be like a wall springing up around them and he was confident that it would disorientate any Darts that attacked the city ahead of them evacuating.

"That's the next team ready to go." Chuck reported to Harry who looked up at Elizabeth and received a nod in permission.

"Dial the Alpha site." Harry ordered and almost instantly Chuck began dialling the seven symbols required and the Gate began to light up. The sound of the Gate changed slightly and Harry slung up his P-90 and moved up to the balcony as he recognised the sound even as Chuck reported an incoming wormhole. The men below cleared the way, the scientists getting to cover even as their escort and the room's sentries levelled their weapons at the wormhole that quickly formed before the white shield snapped into place.

"I've got a signal coming through." Chuck announced before his tone changed into a confused one. "It's Stargate Command."

Harry didn't look back even as Elizabeth ordered the shield down. Harry touched his mic to activate it. "All units, IDC is SGC." He didn't tell them to stand down but they'd be more cautious over whether to react or not.

The first few people walked out of the event horizon and Harry relaxed as three Marines walked into Atlantis. His own men straightened up with smiles at the sight of their comrades and Harry lowered his own P-90 even as more and more came through along with remote trucks covered in equipment and supplies. "All available personnel report to Stargate Control to aid in supplying." Harry ordered over both bands of communication. They were bringing a lot of equipment through and he wanted it moved away from the Gate if they were going to continue the evacuation.

A few of the incoming Marines looked up at his radio message including one with Colonel tabs. Harry turned and walked back through the control room and down the stairs in time to hear the Colonel introduce himself as Colonel Everett and relinquish Elizabeth from her command.

"Now I assume you have already armed the self-destruct." Everett commented as his troops starting filling the room and their own Marines began mixing with them and helping with their equipment. "I'm going to need you to deactivate it for me. And Major Sheppard, I'm going to need you to contact the Alpha site and order all of your men to return immediately along with any of the civilians that wish to fight."

The Colonel and a Captain slightly older than Harry continued up the steps with Elizabeth and John on their trail talking and just as they reached the top the Colonel turned to Harry. "Captain Potter, get my men's gear sorted and stowed temporarily."

Harry didn't move and the man turned away and Harry turned to the Marines filling the room. They were still coming through with equipment even though the Gate had been running for ten minutes already.

Harry looked over the equipment before turning to Sergeant Markham who straightened up to show he was listening. "Use the store rooms just across from the lifts, clear out anything already in there." Harry ordered before turning to a Marine approaching him. A Lieutenant. "Where are your priority action gear?" Harry asked.

The lieutenant snapped to attention, something that none of his own men did when just asked a question. "Sorted into the boxes marked action, Sir." The man told him.

"Get your men to help the expedition's Marines move all of this." Harry ordered him. "You're primary action equipment last."

"Yes Sir!" The lieutenant nodded and turned to begin shouting orders to the Marines in the room. Harry stayed with them for almost fifteen minutes before his senses told him he needed to attend to his brewing storm, especially as it looked like they were planning to stay and fight.

"I'm on comms, lieutenant." Harry ordered before starting up the steps and out onto the balcony off of the control room. Harry closed his eyes even as the wind snapped around the tower and brushed his hair almost violently. He'd been watching a low pressure cell that was approaching from the east for the last few days and because of the low pressure he was building the wind was really starting to form up between the two and a high pressure bar was forming which was where the thunder storm was coming into existence. The presence of the natural storm system meant that Harry's own one could be made stronger by merging them but that also meant a higher risk for Harry so he'd kept it to himself. The problem at the moment was that not only was the planet's rotation trying to push his system west but so was the high pressure bar forming between the two. It was like a spring board and to counter it Harry was having to form another high pressure bar to the west like a cushion which again would increase the size of the storm when it all snapped into place.

"Captain Potter?" A voice made him turn around though he made sure his eyes had returned to normal before he did. A Sergeant from Everett's group was standing in the doorway. "Colonel Everett wants to see you in the briefing room."

Harry nodded and walked past the Sergeant who was looking at him strangely though Harry didn't bother to find out why. John and Elizabeth were in the briefing room as well as Everett and his Captain. Harry snapped to attention and smartly saluted the Colonel even as the door shut behind him and the Sergeant.

"Captain Potter. I believe we've met before." Colonel Everett nodded to him.

"Not officially, Sir." Harry replied with a glance at John and Elizabeth. "And I only saw you through a sniper scope."

"Captain Potter's own orders have once brought him into the same region of engagement as my own troops." Everett told Elizabeth.

"I was hunting Rebels in Afghanistan." Harry grunted. "They happened to decide to hit a small Marine operation."

"Quite." The Colonel nodded. "This is my Captain. Jake Forks." Harry nodded to the Captain who nodded at him in respect.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Harry prompted.

"Yes." Everett nodded. "As you might have realised we're planning to stay and fight and we'll do that with every weapon in our arsenal. That includes you."

"Yes, Sir." Harry nodded, letting the man tell him if he had clearance or not.

"Every man that just stepped through the Gate with me has full disclosure to your ability, Captain, and are well aware to follow your orders as if from their own Captain." Everett told him. "What I want you to do is give me the biggest storm you can produce without destroying us in the process. The storm outside is impressive but it's not going to do much damage to Wraith ships. It may be good for distraction but I'm aware you can produce far more when necessary."

"The storm you see outside, Sir, is merely a side effect from the storm that I'm building up." Harry told him without emotion. "Have you been made aware of the limitations?"

"Perfectly." Everett told him. "Colonel Carter was kind enough to take me through it from the information Doctor McKay sent back in your communications."

"How far are you ordering me to take this?" Harry asked for clarification.

"Not enough to destroy the city." The Colonel told him. "But as far as possible."

"You mean even if it risks his life?" Elizabeth stood up.

"Doctor Weir." Harry spoke as the Colonel made to turn to her. "It's fine."

"Excellent." Everett nodded. "Now, about my men out in the city. They'll need to move about to set up equipment."

"Restraining the storm at this stage could severely diminish my ability to build it up." Harry told him bluntly. "I'd rather not lose that edge. The city is protected at the moment and your men can move about in the open freely. At three o'clock this afternoon however, none of your men can be out in the open. Near to buildings will be fine even once the storm is in full affect but nobody any further than six metres from the buildings."

"Good." Everett nodded. "During the attack where will you be?"

"I need to be out in the open air or I could make a mistake and change the atmosphere in the confined areas of the city." Harry told him. "There's a position on the roof of the building with the Control Chair which is good, it's protected on two sides so it'll give me cover."

"What about if Wraith start getting into the city?" John asked. "How much will you have to concentrate of the storm?"

"Not all that much once it's in swing but if I have to alter it or strengthen or weaken it I'll need all my attention and if I'm distracted the storm could spiral out and do some serious damage." Harry told them.

"I've got four men slated to protect your position." Everett told him. "I'll add another two with you outside to protect you from aircraft. Anything else you need to add?"

"No, Sir." Harry told him. "I understand what you want from me."

"Good." Everett nodded. "The Sergeant here is in charge of your protection detail. Go with him and set it up to your liking. With any luck the Wraith won't even reach the city but I don't want any weapon to go unused if they do."

Harry nodded and turned on his heel and let the doors open for him to leave. The Sergeant followed him out. John quickly followed him as he reached the top of the stairs leading down to the Stargate. "Sergeant?" Harry asked.

"Sergeant Davies, Sir." The man told him.

"Find your men and their equipment and meet me by the transport downstairs. One of my Marines will show you the way." Harry told him. The Sergeant saluted both him and John before heading off.

"I'd forgotten how cold you can come across." John told him as Harry turned to look at him but didn't comment. "Do you really understand what the Colonel is asking you?"

"He wants me to risk sacrificing myself if it gives them even a slightly better chance against the Wraith." Harry told him knowing that he was right. "I'm guessing you, Elizabeth and he argued over it for quite a while but as soon as I knew we were going to fight I made my decision. I don't plan on just losing my life to control this storm but I will use every ounce of strength I have to turn it into an effective fighting shield for the city."

"But I don't want you to kill yourself to do it." John told him.

"As it is I'm having to create a hurricane with an eye the size of New York City and only luck has given me a natural low pressure cell to incorporate into it to make it stronger but even as it gets stronger I run the risk of it going over. You know I need to push at the upper sustainable storm to make an effective storm. I can't risk a self sustaining storm so I'm going to have to put a lot of energy into keeping it in check." Harry sighed.

"Just be careful." John told him. "Just help us hold out until the Daedalus arrives."

"I'll do what I can." Harry nodded before heading off to find the men that were supposed to be protecting him.

He spent two hours on the top of one of the northern towers setting up a defensive system on the roof to give his protectors a shield against the weather as well as protection against attack. They set up two fifty-calibre machine guns as well as a stock of homing rockets and enough ammunition for their heavy machine guns to last a few days.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**T-0**

As night approached over the city the tension began to rise. Harry's built up storm was beginning to become less obvious in the darkness even though the lightning on the east side broke the darkness up. It was now taking a lot of Harry's attention to keep it at bay and the storm system was encroaching on the top edge of Harry's non-sustainable range, the lowest one. Soon it would be large enough that Harry could sit back and merely guide it but then it would take on a solid mass that they could use against the Wraith. Harry was eating some hot food brought to the top level of his building so that Harry and the six man team could recover their strength. They were taking shelter from the winds outside that were beginning to howl.

"Captain?" The Sergeant asked him.

"What is it?" Harry prompted.

"Isn't this wind going to cause us problems?" He asked. "I mean, we can fight in wind but the rockets won't be easy to aim."

"This isn't the storm you'll be fighting in." Harry told him as he finished his food and dumped the packaging in a waste bag. "You'll see it form when this starts. It'll be like a hurricane."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Sergeant Davies asked.

"I can keep it in place as long as I'm around to do it." Harry told him.

"So if you get taken out it'll do what?" Davies asked. "Fade away?"

"Quite quickly probably." Harry nodded. "But it'll shift and the city will end up in the middle of a hurricane."

"Gotcha." Davies nodded. "So we need to make sure you don't get taken out."

"That would be nice." Harry nodded.

"_All units, this is Colonel Everett_._"_ Their radios came to life. _"We have Darts inbound. All teams prepare to defend the city."_

"That's our cue." Harry grunted and stood. He clipped his P-90 to his jacket and walked out onto the roof of the building and into the wind. He was able to move through it easier than the six Marines but they managed well enough. The roof had a ridge running across the middle of it and using that they'd built a perimeter between themselves and the only way onto the roof and two of the Marines took position on the 50-calibres while another took the spot between them with his P-90 in hand and the ammunition around him ready to reload the bigger weapons. Two more took up rocket launchers ready for use and the Sergeant stood ready with Harry with his P-90 to run the small outpost.

"Colonel, this is Captain Potter." Harry reported in. "We're closed up."

"_Darts inbound, eta is twenty seconds."_ The voice was that of Captain Forks.

"All units, the wall is going up." Harry announced. "It's going to get real calm in the city but watch your ears, the pressure is going to plummet."

"_Do it, Captain."_ This time it was the Colonel.

Harry closed his eyes and when he opened them again his eyes were black as far as Davies was concerned and he flinched as Harry looked at him before turning and looking at the sky and focusing on spreading his smaller low pressure cell out over the whole city which only caused it to plummet and then with a snap of his ability the outer edge slammed shut to incoming air and almost instantly the air thinned and stilled. Their ears popped and silence filled the city. It was a little too dark to see it but as four large flares sprung up from the Marines teams throughout the city they could all see a wall of air rising from around the city. The thunder clouds were caught up in it like Harry had known they would be and they spread throughout the wall of air splintering the hurricane with lightning as the clouds formed into a thick wall.

The others couldn't see it and probably only the control room could watch the sensors display it but the hurricane began to spread rapidly across the surface of the planet and with something akin to a thud the low pressure cell in the east merged with their own and the wall of wind took on a new fierceness. Harry knew that within an hour the storm system would be spread over almost forty-five degrees of latitude and longitude.

"Incoming!" Sergeant Davies yelled to them all but Harry already knew of the approaching darts as they came through the cloud but everyone saw as they spiralled precariously through the dark wall of the hurricane. They'd already been too far into entry to adjust enough to avoid the hurricane's walls and as Harry watched with his senses and eyes several spiralled out of control as they breached the wall of the hurricane where the winds were in excess of two hundred knots and the water drawn up from the ocean only thickened it into an almost impenetrable mass.

Some of the Darts ditched into the water and others came out of the wall of the hurricane trailing smoke from lightning strikes and a few collided with each other in the unpredictable currents and even upon entry into the eye where they were taken by surprise and over corrected and hit each other.

Instantly the rail gun positions opened fire on the distressed Darts as they regained control and turned for the city but a lot of the Darts had been turned in the direction of the hurricane and came out side on to the city and were thus easier to hit with the rail guns. The Marines around Harry opened fire as soon as any of the Darts came into range of the 50-calibres and one of them fired a rocket into an incoming Dart which exploded soon after washing them over with hot air. The noise of a war quickly overcame the city, the noise of the rail guns overridden by the screams of the Darts and that only overcome by the clamour of the two machine guns with Harry's team.

Harry lost the blackness to his eyes as his ability told him that there was nothing else coming through the hurricane and he crouched down to the ground even as the hurricane backed down to a more natural power but he gave enough thought and power into it to keep it in place. He wouldn't be able to quickly settle it out now and would keep it running until this was over, whenever that was going to be. Harry watched the battle as the last few Darts were destroyed by Drones fired by John and another stillness settled over the city almost fifteen minutes after Harry had first created the hurricane out of the storm around the city.

He helped his team reload the weapons with fresh magazines and almost five minutes later he heard something addressed to himself over the radio chatter. _"Captain Potter, how goes it?"_ It was Captain Forks.

"I've pulled the hurricane back a little to conserve my strength." Harry told the other officer. "I can hold it as it is."

"_For how long?"_ Forks asked.

"As long as necessary." Harry told him. "A few days like it is now but it's sustainable, mid region, so it'll sit like this but will slowly grow in power as long as I restrain it like I am."

"_Roger, Captain."_ Forks told him. _"The Hive ships aren't doing anything at the moment. We've got Wraith in the city but your building is clear at the moment. Use a life signs detector and confront anyone approaching."_

"Roger." Harry replied simply before pulling out the detector. There were four people below them in the control chair room as well as the seven of them. Harry turned to the Sergeant. "Take a team down to the choke point. Make sure one of them can use this."

"Captain." Davies nodded and took the life signs detector.

"The rest of you get some sleep while we can. This'll kick off again soon." Harry ordered before focusing on the storm to settle it in place for an hour or two so he could get some sleep himself. He knew that the next time wouldn't be so easy. Not by a long way.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

As dawn approached Harry was awake since the change in the air's temperature caused trouble with maintaining the hurricane and he was sitting with two of the Marines while the others slept under blankets far from the door so they weren't at risk. The life signs detector showed somebody was coming up the stairs but John had already radioed ahead. Harry still had his P-90 pointed in the direction of the door just in case but he wasn't about to leap into action.

John smiled as he walked out onto the roof and Harry stood up to walk over to him so they could talk without waking the other Marines. "How are things going?" Harry asked.

"Honestly I'm missing your presence." John laughed. "I didn't realise how much the Marines looked to you for leadership and now that you're out here our own Marines are the only ones that listen to me."

"They're used to their chain of command with Colonel Everett at the top and their own Captain in place. You've just kind of slotted into the middle and they're adjusting to that." Harry told him. "It was different for our own Marines, they needed a new leader and you and I filled that slot for them so it was easier to accept it."

"How do you know so much about the way the Marines think?" John asked with a grin.

"Not just Marines." John corrected. "I'm just good at knowing how people think in extreme circumstances."

"I've noticed." John sighed before going quiet for a minute. Harry used the time to make a small adjustment to the storm around them and John, seeing his eyes had gone black, didn't say anything until Harry looked at him with his normal eyes again. "Did you hear that we're trying to control the Jumper remotely from the Chair?" Harry shook his head. "Elizabeth is going to the Genii home world in half an hour to try to talk them into giving us a couple of their prototype atom bombs. Hopefully we can remotely drive the Jumpers straight into the Hive ships and detonate the bombs."

"It's a good idea." Harry nodded. "Any idea how long we've got?"

"Not really." John shook his head. "Everything in me suggests that they'll attack before night tonight and this will be the final battle one way or another."

"Any regrets?" Harry asked him.

John paused for a moment before looking straight at Harry. "I don't know." Harry raised an eyebrow at him but John shrugged. "What about you?"

"Hmm..." Harry thought for a moment. "Two things really. That I didn't get to see my best friend get married."

"And the other?" John pressed.

"That I'm never going to meet my goddaughter." Harry told him quietly and grinned in amusement as John almost choked.

"You have a goddaughter?" John asked and Harry actually laughed.

"I've never met her. I got a letter from some old acquaintances that told me but I never really had the time to ponder it because just after I read the letter we were scrambled from the Nimitz." Harry told John. "Just before the task group was destroyed."

John gazed at him for a long moment. "When am I going to stop learning things about you?"

Harry laughed again but then their radios came to life and somebody from the control room was requesting John's presence. "I'll talk to you later." Harry told him. John nodded and sent him a look that was as close as telling Harry to be safe. Harry nodded in way of saying the same back and John headed off for the nearest transporter.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

As the sun vanished behind the western wall of the hurricane they got the warning that the Hive ships were closing in again and the city came back to life and Harry began building up the storm again. It took him only fifteen minutes before his storm was as high as he could sustain for a long time. He'd strengthen it as far as he could when they were attacked but then he'd need every bit of his attention.

"_Darts inbound, thirty seconds!"_ Somebody in the control announced to everyone and Harry looked over all of his team.

"This is the one, guys." Harry told them all.

"Don't worry, Sir." One of them told him. "We'll protect you."

Harry sent him an amused grin. "Just you keep an eye on the detector in case somebody comes up those stairs."

"Roger, Captain." The Marine, probably only twenty, told him with a grin. Harry nodded at him more seriously and realised the young Marine was looking up to him.

The Darts came in higher this time, skimming the top of the wall before plummeting down at the city but Harry was ready for that an in an instant the low pressure cell hit it's critical mark and began sucking air from the upper atmosphere. The cold air didn't affect the Darts directly but the strong winds that came down hit a layer of warmer air filled with moisture and clouds formed across the top of the city and sheet lightning began to strike across the clouds, hitting Darts caught in the storm. Harry had basically put a lid over the hurricane and the Darts had yet again been taken by surprise.

A few Darts were knocked off of course and hit the hurricane walls while others exploded as they were struck by lightning and the wrecks hurtled down into the city or into the water. Harry built at the storm even as his team and hundreds of other Marines across the city began firing up into the sky and soon around them as well.

It was almost ten minutes later when Harry knew that something was wrong. The Jumper on remote control should have been in the air already and Harry had been waiting for it so he could create a window. He pulled himself out of his controlling of the storm and used his radio. "Elizabeth, where's that Jumper?" Harry asked.

"_We had a problem with the remote control."_ Elizabeth told him with a sad tone. _"But it's going soon."_

Harry frowned at her tone before he realised what was happening even as a Jumper launched from the central tower. John had gone from the Control Chair to the Jumper Bay and was taking one of the Jumpers up himself on a suicide mission. He was torn into arguing but he took from the part of him that was purely black ops, the part that had allowed him to survive and he formed that part around him. They were here to win this fight and John knew what a sacrifice meant just like he did. He punched a hole through the thunder clouds with a burst of high pressure air and John took the opening and was through it before it could fade back into the storm clouds.

That was Harry's signature that he knew what John was doing and he knew that John would know Harry respected his decision. _"Captain Potter!"_ Colonel Everett's voice called. _"We need more of that storm. There's too many Darts getting through the screen!"_

Harry winced and turned to Sergeant Davies and nodded before he looked up at the sky and instantly delved into his ability and threw the storm as high as he could, right up onto the border between sustainable and self-sustaining. The air grew cold enough to cloud their breaths and the hurricane turned so dark it was impossible to see anything in it.

Harry frowned as the storm surged and reached into the self-sustaining region and lightning struck out from the wall and slammed into a building on the other side of the city. He reigned it back into the middle range but he knew he was beginning to strain but he had to give everything he had into this to save the lives of everyone in the city. Gunshots distracted him and he snapped his head around to see two Wraith die in the doorway. A fight broke out as more Wraith flooded onto the roof and the two 50-calibres opened fire at them. A stunner hit one of the aimers but the young Marine was quick to take up the gun. Harry dodged behind a crate but couldn't fire when he had to drawn his attention back to the storm as it again pushed itself into the self-sustaining region.

Harry reigned it back again but it was taking all of his energy and concentration and he knew he couldn't do it for too long. He had to seriously check the power of the storm. "Colonel Everett!" Harry snapped into his radio. "We're being overrun by Wraith up here and the storms taking a life of its own!"

"_Captain Potter, we've lost contact with the Colonel and Captain Forks."_ One of the Marines replied from across the city.

"_Harry, can you keep the storm going a little longer?"_ Elizabeth's voice asked him.

"Not if I get shot up." Harry told her. "I can keep the storm going for now."

"_Only as long as you can."_ Elizabeth told him. _"That storm is the only thing keeping us from being overwhelmed."_

That was it for Harry, he had to keep the storm working because if it failed now they'd be overrun. It was up to him to risk his life to make what John had done worth it. As if to annunciate his thoughts a bright burst of light lit up the sky through the clouds and Harry winced regretfully.

"Sergeant, keep them at bay!" Harry ordered before crouching and focusing everything he had into keeping hold of the storm but even as he did it shifted again and flew up into the self-sustainable field and it took him almost a minute to reign it back under control and he was in pain as he knew the electro-neuro chemicals in his brain spike. The storm escaped his grasp again and the wall to the east of the city flexed inwards. Everybody in the city not distracted by the Wraith could see that the storm was growing out of his control.

"_Harry? Can you keep control of it?"_ Elizabeth asked him.

"Yes!" Harry hissed though his voice was in pain. "I'll kill it at the last moment but we need it as long as possible."

"_Harry, that's going to kill you!"_ Elizabeth knew what was happening. Harry knew exactly how much it would take to disband the storm and he could do it now except they needed it to protect the city from the Darts.

Another bright flash in the sky announced the destruction of the last Hive. "Elizabeth, what's happening?"

"_The Daedalus has arrived."_ Elizabeth told him. _"They have Major Sheppard on board and the Cruisers have retreated. We've got the last Darts inbound on the city."_

"_Captain Potter."_ It was Rodney. _"The shield's about to go up. I don't know what that's going to do to you."_

"Rodney, shut up and get the shield up." Harry ordered before focusing on the storm even as it lurched again high into the self-sustaining region and Harry tried to shut it down knowing that this was his last opportunity to do it before he ran out of energy and it killed him but he had to put enough in to bring it down enough so it disbanded on its own because he knew he'd be unconscious or worse. The shield, when it went up, would protect them as the dying storm moved on but Harry had to hold it at bay until then.

Harry cried out as pain lanced through his head and he knew he was losing the ability to remain conscious. Arms grabbed him and stopped him from hitting the ground but Harry was focused purely on the storm. He was still bringing the storm into check when the shield sprung up and he knew he'd done enough to save the city but he also knew as he lost consciousness that he'd done just that little too much to save his own life.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few minutes before**

John beamed into the middle of the city as soon as the Darts had struck the shield. He had a number of Marines with him that he sent off. The storm raged against the shield but the city was still. He ran up the steps as fast as he could to see Elizabeth looking stressed. "John!" She called and surprised him by hugging him in relief.

"The storm, are we safe?" He asked.

"The shield's protecting us from it but it's dying away." She told him. "Harry was able to keep it up until the last moment to protect us but..."

"But...?" He asked.

"John, he knew the risks involved in holding the storm that long when it was breaching into the self-sustaining field." She sighed.

"Is he alive?" John asked suddenly fearing the worst.

"Carson's on his way but there are so many Wraith in the city." Elizabeth told him. "Sergeant Davies said that he gave his last moment to making sure the storm didn't destroy the city and then as soon as the shield was up he just blacked out and fell limp."

"I'm heading over there." John announced.

"It won't do any good, John." Elizabeth told him. "I need you here right now. Once Carson's team gets him to the infirmary you can go find out how he is but right now we need to focus on the city."

"But..." John started.

"You were willing to make a sacrifice for the wellbeing of the city and so was Harry." Elizabeth told him. "I'm worried about him just as much as you are but if we let the Wraith destroy the city from the inside we're not doing Harry any favours."

John sighed but relented. "I want to know the instant he's in the infirmary."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A hour later**

John had just finished talking to Colonel Everett who had been drained almost completely by a Wraith during the attack. Captain Forks had been injured but he'd survive and as much as it pained John the Captain would take the place of the second in command if Harry wasn't able to recover.

He walked across the infirmary to where Harry was lying attached to about ten different machines. Carson was fretting over what seemed to be an inch thick sheath of readouts and Rodney, Teyla and Elizabeth were all standing around him. Harry looked peaceful enough except for the oxygen tube into this mouth to aid his strained breathing. He was connected to a heart rate monitor and an EKG readout of his brain waves. His temperature was being monitored, the amount of oxygen he took in and another machine showed extremely high levels of electro-neural chemicals in his body.

"As I understand it." Rodney started as he saw John arrive. "He had to push the storm as high as possible to protect the city and it started becoming too much to control. He should have been able to kill it right when he realised that but instead he kept it verging on the brink to give us the protection we needed and instead of bringing it back when he wasn't at risk he went far out of the envelope."

"Will he recover?" Elizabeth asked Carson.

"He's in a coma caused by the electro-chemicals that are released into his body when he taps into his abilities." Carson sighed. "Those levels are very slowly decreasing but with that amount in his brain I can't say whether it will do permanent damage or not."

"So you're saying he might never wake up?" John asked.

"I'm saying he might not even survive the next few hours." Carson said sadly.

"We're sending a dozen of our worst cases back to Earth through the Gate." Elizabeth reminded him. "Is it worth sending him back as well."

"I'd have to insist on it." Carson told him. "Not only because they have more time to spare on trying to find a way to help him but because there's a storm right outside the city and I don't know how that's affecting this. He was linked to it when he went unconscious and it could still be draining him for all we know."

John stared at Harry's face for a moment and finally he had an answer to Harry's question from before the final attack. What did he regret? That was an easy one now, he regretted letting it matter that they weren't on Earth. No duty was more important to him right now. He cared about Harry more than he'd admitted in the half conversations that he kept having with Harry on his balcony and he didn't think he wanted to picture an Atlantis without Harry there to help him survive.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Earth – Three days later**

Joshua Conway drove up his drive a few hours earlier than he normally did. He'd been allowed to clock off early so he could arrive home just after his new wife did. They'd been married now for just over a month and it had been a beautiful wedding and he knew that the only thing that had marred it for his wife was that her best friend hadn't been within contact for the day. She didn't really let on that his lack of presence over the last few months bothered her but that was the way she was but he remembered how upset she'd been when Harry had been called back to base just half a day after arriving especially when he'd just been accidentally shot down.

Every evening without fail Jessica went online, searching several websites for anything she could glean. She went from the USAF website and even the RAF one all the way down to a few conspiracy sites just in case something came up on them about him. Only a week ago they gotten a message dated a week prior. It had been a snap shot of a video tape sent to them courtesy of the United States Air Force and Jessica had cried her way through the entire thing and watched it more times than Josh could guess. Josh had convinced her that it was a routine message sent because they had contact for a brief time but he himself had heard the tone that the Military Captain had used and recognised the message for what it was. A message sent as possibly the last one.

And just two hours ago he'd been sitting in his office at the Colorado Springs Police Headquarters when they'd received a telegram from the military. They received any number of them when urgent orders had to reach military personnel and the police were needed to deliver them securely. This could have been orders except the desk recognised the name as belonging to Josh's wife and had brought it to him. Josh had checked the details of the message off to make sure before stewing over it for an hour. He'd seen hundreds of orders sent like this but to next-of-kin there were only a few things this could be and he'd gone to his Captain and requested the afternoon off so he could speak to his wife.

Thus he opened his front door and walked inside. "Jessy?" Josh called out.

"Kitchen!" She yelled back. He pulled off his jacket and hung it up by the door before heading through the small house they had bought together. It was just a small one on the suburbs of the city but it was in quick driving distance to Jessica's school. It was a little further out from Josh's own work but it was in a safe neighbourhood. She was going through a small pile of mail when he arrived and he was glad once again that the military didn't send messages like this through the Postal Service or she'd have been alone to read it. "You're home early." She pointed out before looking up at his carefully neutral expression. "Is everything alright?" She asked as she stood up and hugged him and kissed him briefly.

"You know how the police deliver messages for military personnel on occasion?" He asked.

"Like those policemen delivered Harry's orders." She nodded as she spoke.

"One came in today addressed to you." Josh told her and took her hand. "The Captain gave me permission to come home so you could open it."

"For me?" She frowned. "You don't think it's a message from Harry do you?" She sounded almost hopeful and it pained him to disagree.

"Harry wouldn't send a message like this." Josh told her before pulling the small brown sealed message from his pocket. The letter itself was the envelope and it was little more than a print out folded in three and then sealed down with Jessica's name and address stuck on the outside. "These aren't personal messages."

"You mean..." She went pale and Josh almost thought he'd have to support her. Josh nodded knowing that she'd jumped straight to the worst conclusion possible. That this was a letter informing the next-of-kin of the death of a member of the military.

"I suggest you open it right now, Jess." Josh told her. "Before you work yourself up."

"I'm not opening that!" Jess told him. "He might be..."

"Love, reading this isn't going to make a difference to what has happened." Josh told her. "Don't you think you should find out what's happened?"

"I can't..." She shook her head and turned away, going to the cupboard and pulling out two mugs to make hot drinks like she did every time Josh came home from work.

"Jess, it has to be read." Josh tried. "You're the only family that Harry has and he deserves to have you know."

"You open it then. I'm not touching that unless I know for sure it's good news." She told him primly but Josh didn't take offence knowing that she was utterly petrified that in moments she'd discovered that her best friend had been killed in some war that nobody knew about and nobody ever would know about.

Josh sighed. "Alright but if anybody asks you opened it or I'll lose my job." Josh warned her before opening the seal before Jess could change her mind and bin the message all together. He scanned the contents with a glance looking for those telltale words but his eyes snapped to the term wounded in the line of duty and he sighed out in relief. Jess turned to look at him with panicked eyes and shaking limbs.

"What is it, Josh!?" She almost screamed at him.

"He's alive." Josh told her and saw his wife almost break. He'd known that Harry was important to her but she was so good at hiding her anxiety when he was on a mission that he'd missed how strained she'd been. Then again it was probably due to practice. By what Harry had told him when they'd met about his work his missions were never really all that safe. "It says "Captain Harry James Potter of the United States Air Force, in his classified duties for the governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was wounded in action. Our respects go to his family and friends at this time and our best wishes to the Captain."

Jess had tears running down her face by the time he'd finished the rather generic portion of the message and he realised right then why these messages always seemed so unemotional and almost routine. It gave strength to the family that such a thing wasn't out of the ordinary. "There's more." He told her. "It's signed General Jack O'Neil. It says "Captain Potter was wounded while putting himself in harms way to ensure the survival of the men and women under his conduct. We would like to invite you to Colorado Springs Air Force Hospital where Captain Potter is recovering."

"Oh god." Jessica gasped.

"There's a number to call to arrange a visit." Josh told her. "Do you want to go now?"

Jess barely answered him before she was running from the room to get ready to go. Josh managed a smile before picking up the phone to dial the number at the bottom of the message.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Colorado Springs Air Force Hospital**

Jessy was escorted to the correct room with Josh at her side. There was a man outside the room wearing a uniform similar to Harry's best uniform and he was a Captain too and when Jessy glanced at his flashes to find out which branch he was from all she found out was that he was a pilot rather than crew or soldier but then again Harry's uniform never declared him as Black Ops or any other number of things he did for the Air Force.

The man stared at Jess as she approached the door before turning squarely to them when he realised they were heading for the room next to him. "You must be Joshua and Jessica Conway." Jess nodded but glanced inside. "I was asked to meet you by General O'Neill. My name is Captain Iain Bennett."

"You flew with Harry didn't you?" Jessica recognised the name from Harry's stories about his latest aircraft testing programme. That was about all she'd been allowed to know about it though.

"I was his wingman." Iain told them. "Technically I still am."

"A wingman?" Josh asked. "Aren't you a little high up in rank to be just a wingman? Shouldn't you be in charge of a flight or something?"

"Normally yes but with what we fly and what we were doing it for it's not out of the question." Iain explained. "Our planes are very advanced and it was their testing grounds so they wanted the best and to not be arrogant, Harry and I are the best."

"Can we go in?" Jess asked.

Iain sighed. "I was asked just to tell you a few things before you go in."

"What?" She asked impatiently.

"Harry wasn't physically injured." Iain told her. "At least not anything you can see. What actually happened is Classified as above Top Secret. All I can tell you is that he's in a coma at the moment and has been since he was wounded. They're hopeful that he will wake and see no reason for him to remain in a coma but they just have to wait and see at the moment."

Jess sobbed slightly and Josh wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "I'm sorry." Iain told them.

"Thank you, Captain." Josh nodded to him.

"Let's go inside." Iain offered and opened the door and led the way in. The room was rather plain, a blend between Hospital and Military efficiency but there were no flowers in the room nor cards. Jess opened her own card since Harry couldn't do it and put it beside his bed even before she'd really taken Harry in. He looked to be sleeping and was connected to so many silent machines that they hadn't bothered to put a shirt over his torso. Jessica shook but steeled herself and pulled a chair across to the side of the bed and sat beside her best friend.

"Were you flying?" Josh asked Iain. "I mean when he was injured."

"I wasn't on the mission with him, I'm afraid." Iain told him. "Our flight is a four craft flight. The four prototypes to a new attack craft. Harry was the Flight Leader and I was his wingman. We had two new lieutenants with us as well. We were practicing combat manoeuvres over the Antarctic Continent when the test missile locked onto him. After that his plane was out of commission and with him available again they asked him to take part in the mission he went on. We were left to continue as a three plane flight."

"Was he flying though?" Josh asked. "I'd imagine more injuries from a plane crash."

"You're right, it would be a miracle to get out of a crash without a scratch." Iain nodded. "Harry was always just as good as Special Forces as he was a Pilot. That's what he's been doing for the last five months."

"Doing what?" Josh asked.

Iain shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'd be breaking more laws than I could imagine possible if I say anything more than I already have."

"That's alright, Captain." Josh nodded knowing that he'd answered a lot of the questions that Jessica would want to know and personally knew better than to ask where Harry had been stationed.

"His doctor should be in at some point in the next hour and he'll be able to tell you a bit more about his condition and the hospital has been instructed to contact several people as soon as he's awake, yourselves included." Iain told them. "His commanding officer couldn't return with him but I know he'll want to speak to you. He should be due back in the next few days."

"Thank you, Captain." Josh smiled at him.

Iain offered his hand and Josh shook it firmly. "I'll be around later. I've a niece in town I want to visit and I want to make the most of the weeks leave."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Three days later**

Harry woke up in an empty room. It was dark but the light above his bed was on to give people from the corridor the ability to see him. He was in a hospital that had to be Colorado Springs. He recognised the features from his extended trip after what happened in Brazil. He raised a tired hand but even as he did he felt energy flowing back to him. It was like he was waking after being under sedatives or General Anaesthetic for an operation. He used the hand to pull the oxygen tube away from his nose and instantly the smell of lilies drew his attention to the vase on his right. Either somebody had lucked out and put those in here or more likely Jessica had been to visit.

There was a small table to the left of his bed, one of the ones on wheels that slid across the bed. He couldn't sit up as he was now but he could see four cards standing on the top. He reached over and knocked them over before gathering them up and sliding them onto himself to read. He noted the letter that fell among them but pulled up the cards first.

He was a little surprised by how many he had and by the size of one of them, almost A4. He opened the first to find it was from Jessica and Josh and smiled before putting it back on the side, managing to make it stand up. The second was from Iain, Claire and Alex, his flight. He tried to put that up as well but only succeeded in knocking over the one from Josh and Jessica so gave up and merely placed it to the side. The next one, the larger one was a surprise. It was signed in name by what looked like the entire senior detachment of the Atlantis Expedition. Elizabeth, Rodney, Carson, Zelenka, John, Teyla and even Sergeant Markham on behalf of the Marines. He gave up reading the scientists names after the first ten and put the card to the side. The last one made him chuckle in amusement. It was from Neville, Luna and Hannah written all in Luna's handwriting. She'd clearly sent it long before he could have been injured and that amused him more than anything else even though she'd clearly known he was going to be injured. He stared at his Goddaughter's name for a moment before putting that card up with the other three and finally turning to the expensive envelope.

He opened it and pulled out the heavy paper from the inside that declared it as 'From the Desk of the President of the United States'. It was rather a long winded and very formal way of writing and Harry ended up skipping through it to get the idea of what it said. Basically because his actions showed a willingness to go above and beyond the call of his duty the President of the United States was to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor. The highest award that a person could be awarded in the United States. His eyebrows rose up in surprise as he let that settle in on him before he put the letter down on top of the cards and went to reach for the nurses button figuring that it was about time they knew he was awake. He really wanted to see his best friend.

Before he could manage to press the button though his door opened and two men walked inside. Harry looked up at them and just as he was about to speak he realised that they didn't work at the hospital and visiting was restricted quite a bit in the Military Hospital. He was about to ask who they were when one of them moved his hand under his jacket and the nurses button flew from Harry's hand.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry sat in the chair by the window in his room. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt rather than hospital clothing since he wasn't under any treatment or medication and was only there until his headaches cleared up. The electro-neuro chemicals had come down to a safe level and he'd be leaving the hospital soon and hopefully return to work sooner rather than later. There was nothing to stop him returning to Atlantis.

He'd been overjoyed to hear from a lieutenant from Stargate Command that Atlantis had survived the fight with the Wraith relatively unscathed. There had been casualties but he didn't know who yet. He knew that John, Elizabeth and Carson had survived without injury since they were due to arrive to see him for the first time in a matter of minutes. Jess should be in to see him soon as well. She'd been in the room every time he'd woken up except for the first time and this morning when he'd been up early and gone for a shower and gotten changed so he could see his friends without the indignity of hospital gowns. Jess was excited to see him regardless of the situation but was still upset that he'd be returning to work sometime soon but had demanded that he stay with Josh and herself for the time being.

His door opened and he turned to take in the four people that walked inside. Jess was talking rapidly with Elizabeth about her church wedding a month ago while John and Carson were looking rather bewildered by the shorter woman. Harry smiled at them as Jess trailed off. Harry stood easily and walked towards them.

"Harry." Elizabeth smiled and surprised him by hugging him. "It's so good to see you up and about." She said as she released him.

"I'm not that easy to keep down." Harry laughed. "Just ask Carson, he's tried."

"We agreed not to mention that again." Carson almost growled. "But aye, it's good to see you."

Harry nodded before faking a brace and a salute. "Major Sheppard." He grinned.

"Captain Potter." John grinned back before nodding and his face showed exactly how pleased he was to see Harry alive.

"So, Elizabeth?" Harry asked. "When can I come back to work?"

"Not until you get some leave." Jess demanded. "I'm fed up with you not being around. You missed my wedding and you have to make up for it."

Elizabeth laughed. "We're scheduled to return in two weeks but we've got a lot of work to do before then." She told him. "We're going to need your help with some of that but there's no reason it has to be full time. We're going to take the time to visit family anyway."

"You're going to be busy with your flight too." John told him. "Your plane needs working up and the other eight wings are now operational and need putting through their paces before they are released to the populace."

"You mean I get to find out what he flies?" Jess asked excitedly.

"I've got enough ceremony thank you. There's no way I'm showing up to a grand revealing." Harry told them. "I've already got a visit to the Oval Office."

John laughed but Elizabeth grinned. "Getting awarded the Medal of Honor isn't a small thing, Harry."

"You hush." Harry told her. "How about we go out for a walk?" Harry offered and everyone agreed. They just talked about random things as they walked mainly about Harry and Jess' history since they'd have to wait until she left before they could talk about their work.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few days later**

Harry sat in the last meeting within Stargate Command. At least it was the last meeting he was due to attend before he flew out to Kodiak Island to rejoin his Flight and take command of his new squadron. The decision had been made to move three Flights of four each of the new F-304s to Atlantis, one of which would remain on Atlantis at all times while the other two moved between the city and the Daedalus when she was in the Pegasus Galaxy as her operations required. Harry would be given command of all of the F-304s operating in the Pegasus Galaxy and of the F-302s that were stationed there as well. Harry's own Viper flight would be based with him in Atlantis and Harry was excited to have his flight with him, it was one of the things he'd really missed having out there and the heavy bombers would be useful against the Wraith.

Harry and John had spent a lot of the last few days going through the new military members going out and after John's promotion to Lieutenant Colonel he would take official command of the military presence in the Pegasus Galaxy. Harry would focus more on the flight part of the military and they were bringing in a Marine Major, called Lorne, along with Captain Forks to help John out and also to head up a second team through the Stargate though it would be a military team for emergencies. They'd been reviewing files and forming units from either teams given to them and adding in expertise from every part of the US military whether they were navy, army or air force.

Today though they were discussing Carson's list because he was having trouble cutting down the numbers that he wanted to bring. Harry had suggested they just bring all of those suggested but the others had suggested that the fifty on the list were a little extreme. Harry was browsing a copy of the list when a name made him gasp in surprise. "Olivia Fletcher?" Harry asked looking up at Carson.

"She's young but I talked to her old professors, she's the brightest student to go through medical school in their memory and I've looked over her work on genetic diseases." Carson said. "She's a must have. I wanted her on the team before but she was considered too young."

"She's twenty-four." Harry told Carson. "That's not too young."

"You've read her file?" Carson asked.

"No." Harry shook his head. "But from what I've heard about her from her sister I agree we need her on the team. She's leading the way in research into curing genetic diseases. Not only could access to Atlantis bring about some major breakthroughs but having her with us with the Wraith could give us an edge."

"So you think we should definitely take her with us?" Elizabeth asked.

"Wait, you said you've heard about her from her sister?" John asked.

"Jessica's name was Fletcher until she married last month." Harry sighed. "Have you approached Olivia yet?" Harry asked Carson who shook his head. "I'll talk to Olivia, I've never met her but she knows about the work I do from her sister."

"She's definitely somebody I want on the team." Carson told her. "We'll contact her but you can go talk to her with me to offer her the job."

"Jessica's going to die of worry." Harry sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "She'll completely flip."

"With both of you on a dangerous mission." Elizabeth nodded. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"I don't think it would be anywhere near as bad if I could tell Jessica the truth." Harry sighed. "Hey, maybe I can pull a favour with the President."

John laughed but that suggestion broke the tension up a little bit and they continued their work but Harry's mind was never far away from how he was going to tell Jessica that both her best friend and her only remaining member of family were going away, out of direct contact and into harms way, at the same time and to the same place. She was going to go out of her mind.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

Harry was flown by Naval Tomcat to Washington and he regretted not being allowed to fly the jet plane across the United States. He missed being in the cockpit of his own plane but this time tomorrow he'd be landing on Kodiak Island and ready to work up his Viper and start the brutal training program with the three F-304 Flights going to the Pegasus Galaxy. The Tomcat delivered him to the Air Force base where he was picked up by a car and taken to the White House and was surprised when he only had a few minutes to neaten himself up before he was escorted into the Oval Office to face President Hayes for the first time.

"Captain Potter!" The President was a man only slightly shorter than Harry but had a politician's appearance. None of the crispness of military but well cared for in his appearance. "A pleasure to meet you."

Harry snapped to attention and saluted crisply. "Relax, Captain." Hayes told him. The door shut behind Harry leaving him alone with the President. Because he'd been awarded the medal for a classified mission the presentation itself was only to be witnessed by Harry and the President himself which was fine for Harry. It would still hit the papers along with his name but none of the details would be released. "Have a seat."

"Thank you, Mr. President." Harry nodded and took off his cap and placed it next to him as he sat on one of the sofas facing the President who had sat down quickly to allow Harry to do the same.

"Would you like something to drink?" The President asked. "Whisky perhaps?"

"As much as I would like to be able to say I have had a drink with the President I am to fly to Kodiak soon and flying and alcohol doesn't mix, Sir." Harry smiled. "I would however love a glass of water."

The President nodded with a smile and went about pouring Harry and himself glasses of water. Harry took a sip before placing the glass down. "Now, I believe we've spoken before though in strange circumstances. You were in the air over the Nimitz Carrier Group when it was attacked I believe." Harry nodded. "You were also the one to order them to abandon ship when you realised what was happening. I believe, as do many others, that your quick decision saved many lives that day as have more of your decisions. You have the ability to make hard decisions quickly and they have a habit of saving lives even at the risk of your own. That is why you've been brought here today. So that we can show you how much my administration appreciates what you do."

"Thank you, Sir." Harry nodded.

"This is especially so because what you do for this country doesn't come with power, or fame." Hayes smiled. "Tell me, Captain, why is it that you do it?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I suppose because when I was a child the Royal Air Force gave me a life. They took me from extreme conditions and helped me. When I came over to the US you did the same for me. I do this work because I am capable of it and it has to be done and I take pride not in the fame it might bring me but in how it helps others. People whose skills lead them in a different path, a path that doesn't necessarily allow them to protect themselves or those they care about and wish to help."

"I suppose Atlantis is a perfect example." Hayes nodded. "The scientists working there under your eyes rely on you to protect them so they can do their work."

"Yes, Sir. Exactly." Harry smiled.

"Well when I heard about what you did in Atlantis I suggested we award you a medal. When the Senior Air Force Officer and my National Security Advisor agreed I asked to see your file and I'm amazed by it, Captain." The President told him. Harry kept quiet. "I'm glad my predecessor's administration saw who you were and accepted you into the country as they did and I spoke to the Prime Minister about you yesterday morning and he wished to send you his congratulations on your promotion."

"Promotion, sir?" Harry frowned.

Hayes chuckled. "People are promoted for much less than what you have done for this country, Captain. Or should I say Major?" Hayes smiled and stood up and Harry followed suit and placed his cap on his head at the President's suggestion. The President turned to a pedestal with a camera and turned it on so that the event was documented.

"Captain Potter, nobody can say that your life hasn't been extraordinary and your perseverance through it, from your young childhood to these last few weeks speaks of your high calibre and fortitude. You possess a certain character that should be the dream of every human on Earth." Hayes lifted a box from his desk and opened it to show the camera. "In honour of your sacrifices above and beyond the call of duty and your willingness to fight to the last breath to protect those under your charge I have the great pleasure and honour to present to you the Congressional Medal of Honor."

Harry tilted his head so that the man could place it over his head on its ribbon. From now on whenever he wore this uniform he'd wear a small medal to show he held the medal. The President shook his hand before continuing. "Also in recognition for your unwavering efforts to better the United States of America which adopted you into her arms I promote you to the rank of Major, United States Air Force." The President nodded to him and shut off the camera.

"I believe General O'Neill is waiting for you outside to officially promote you." The President smiled at him.

"Thank you, Mr. President." Harry nodded. "It means a lot to me."

"Though something tells me not as much as it would others." Hayes said though it was a query.

"I am grateful, Sir." Harry assured him. "It shows that this country appreciates the work I do but I don't do the work expecting a reward, I do it because I believe in it."

"Ah, I see." The President nodded. "I understand what you mean and if anything that reassures me that the future we have to look forward to will be a good one if there are more people like you out there."

"I'm glad you understand." Harry told him.

"So what can I do for you that will really pay you back for what you have done for a country that wasn't even your own?" The President asked.

"I hate to ask because it seems selfish." Harry paused but at the President's nod he continued. "You see, Sir..."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Kodiak Island – Early morning**

"Attention on deck!" Iain snapped as Harry walked into the room and all of the standing officers snapped to attention. Iain saluted Harry who snapped off a return salute.

"Find a seat." Harry told everyone simply as he took off his cap and put it on the podium. He'd arrived late last night and gotten some sleep before waking up to his first day as a Major of the United States Air Force. He was the only one wearing full uniform that morning along with his medals since he'd just been for a meeting with the General of the base that he knew from the last time he'd been stationed here as well as Lieutenant Colonel Carter who had always been the officer in charge of the development of the F304s. Thus he was still wearing his Military Cross with its royal ribbon, his UN Conflict medal, his Air Force Cross and finally his new Medal of Honor badge on its ribbon in replacement of the actual medal which was always hung around the neck.

Ten officers in the room took seats around the table but Harry remained standing as did Iain, his second in command. The group were all wearing US Air Force pilot jump suits with their names on the front and the flag of their country on their left shoulder just like the Atlantis team did. Ignoring Iain and himself there were three US Air Force, two US Navy, two Royal Air Force, one Royal Navy, one French Air Force and lastly one from the Russian Air Force. Obviously two of the US Air Force pilots were Claire and Alex. Harry's flight would remain the same, the second flight, Cobra flight, led by Commander Justin Knight from the Royal Navy, would also consist of the two US Navy pilots and the Russian pilot and lastly the third flight, Adder flight, would be led by the final US Air Force man, a Captain that Harry didn't know, and consisted of the two Royal Air Force pilots and the French pilot.

"With the exception of my own flight I don't believe I've met any of you before and you all know that time is short. We've got eleven days before we board the Daedalus and head for the Pegasus Galaxy and I fully intend to get you all the last three days to visit your friends and families and relax before we ship out." Harry told them all. "On the day of departure we'll join the Daedalus in the black and practice bombing runs against her before we board so that we're ready if anything happens on the voyage and I promise you I intend for Colonel Caldwell to try to shoot back. That's our only chance to show the International Governments that their support in this venture is well placed. In this squadron we have representatives from most of the countries backing the Atlantis expedition and for the most part you are the only international military there. Even so I must press on you the fact that you will all follow the orders of your superiors regardless of nation. That goes for my own commands but also the expeditions military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard and Colonel Caldwell on the Daedalus."

Harry turned on the screen that he knew Iain had set up for him and the three flights formed on the screen. "You've already been training in your three flights and I plan to focus on combined operations between all three flights."

"What sort of training are we going to be doing?" Captain Brokewell, the US Captain in command of Adder Flight asked.

"That's been left up to me and I won't be telling you each mission until we're in the air in two hours time." Harry told them. "Fighting the Pegasus Galaxy isn't going to be like missions on Earth, there won't normally be hours of planning and you won't be able to think things through in advance. The Wraith don't operate like we do and I intend to get that into you by the time eight days is over."

"What about practice?" The French pilot asked.

"Against Wraith Darts I'm afraid we're limited, however in three days we're heading out to the South Atlantic to meet up with the USS Ronald Reagan to train against her eight F302s." Harry announced. "Now, I'll get the chance to meet all of you individually in the next few days but I've got the work up of my Viper first so is there any questions now before we fly later?"

"Nothing at the moment." Iain summed up when nobody asked anything.

"Good." Harry nodded. "Try to enjoy the next three days. After that we're flying to Colorado Springs for the afternoon and you'll all be going through the Stargate to the Alpha Site to experience Stargate travel." That was also going to be Harry's opportunity for him and Carson to go recruit Olivia and with President Hayes' newly given permission he'd also be telling Josh and Jessica where Olivia and he were going. "Right then, dismissed."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few days later**

Harry glanced at Carson as they walked through the University Research Centre based on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. Half the reason Jessica worked in Colorado Springs was because her sister worked in the area. They were led by the lead researcher to the lab where Jessica worked and he kept eyeing Harry's full uniform. Carson was wearing a blue suit and tie.

"This is the lab, Sirs." The man told them and opened the door for them. They walked into an admin area with lots of computers and windows that looked out into what was obviously a clean area. The man walked up to the windows and a small intercom on the wall and spoke through it. "Doctor Fletcher, if you've got a moment, there are a couple of gentlemen here to see you."

The five people working in the lab looked up and Harry scanned their faces before settling on one of the three women that he recognised from photos in Jessica's house. She frowned but then looked at Harry's uniform. She probably hadn't recognised him even from any photos that Jessica had shown her of him because his cap was over his head with its visor shadowing his eyes. "I'll be out in a bit." She yelled to be heard before the man turned off the intercom and Olivia began talking to the others in the room.

"Can I ask what this is all about?" The lead researcher asked Harry.

"All I can tell you is that there's a matter that we'd like Doctor Fletcher to have a look at for the military. We have already contacted her and are responding to her positive response." Harry told him without expression.

"What kind of matter?" The man asked.

"The kind of matter stamped with a red 'Top Secret'." Harry told him bluntly.

"So you're going to whisk her off to some secret military lab?" He asked.

Harry turned a hard stare at the man who was starting to become unpleasant. "We'll require privacy to speak to her."

"We can talk in my office." The man told him.

"I did not mean to include you in that 'we'." Harry told him.

That hit a nerve but he was prevented from anything further when the door to the clean room opened and Olivia walked out, pulling off a disposable apron as she entered the office. "Doctor Fletcher." The lead researcher spoke rather tersely. "These men are here to see you. I'm afraid I didn't get any names."

"Doctor Fletcher." Harry greeted with a nod. "Perhaps you have a private office where we may have a talk?"

"Of course." She frowned at Harry as if trying to recognise him and Harry knew when she did. Her eyes widened slightly and Harry nodded. "This way. It's alright Rupert, I've got them from here."

The man left the room first and headed left but Olivia led Harry and Carson off to the right and into a neat office a little further down the hall. Carson shut the door behind them. "Clearly you don't take after your sister when it comes to neatness." Harry pointed out. Jessica was invariably careless with where she placed things.

"I don't know about that. I don't really use this office that much." She told him. "You're Captain Potter then?"

"Major now actually." Harry told her as he took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair. "Can we sit?"

"Of course." She smiled and motioned them to a sofa. Carson sat down and Harry sat beside him as Olivia pulled up a chair opposite them.

"Olivia Fletcher, this is Carson Beckett. I'm afraid I can't remember what letters he has after his name. We just call him Doc." Harry shrugged. Carson sighed and reached over to shake Olivia's hand.

"Ignore him, my dear." Carson told her.

"It's alright, Doctor Beckett. I'm well aware of Major Potter's ways from my sister though we've never actually met." Olivia told him. "And I know of you from your research. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to reach you two months ago when my team made a small breakthrough on a point in your research that you were having trouble with."

"Oh, what part?" Carson leaned forwards.

"Oh god," Harry groaned. "It's as bad as having Radek and Rodney in the same room together."

"Major!" Carson complained.

"Do you think, just maybe, that we could get on with the reason we're here, Carson? Or would you like to solve every problem in your research before we start?" Harry asked. "Because frankly Doctor Fletcher and I have a dinner appointment with her sister and brother-in-law tonight."

"Do we?" Olivia asked.

"You'll want one I think." Harry told her.

"If you're in such a hurry then be my guest." Carson rolled his eyes. "Why I haven't gotten used to you and Major Sheppard I don't know."

"Colonel Sheppard." Harry corrected in amusement. "I'm the Major now remember?"

"Don't." Carson warned.

"Are you both finished?" Olivia asked in amusement.

"Right." Harry nodded. "Onto business. You received a letter from the Air Force last week I believe and replied to say you might be interested."

"Of course." Olivia nodded.

"Well I'm going to give you the gist of it but until you agree to really listen and sign for clearance I can't tell you all the details." Harry told her. "You can still back out after that but don't go too far lightly."

"Go on." Olivia nodded.

"Well, for the last six months a group funded internationally by the British, French, Russians, Chinese and of course the US have been operating a lab in a dangerous area. The work there has been ground breaking in about every area of science." Harry explained. "Myself and Carson were with the first party to explore the area and it required a certain amount of isolation from the rest of the world."

"Which is where you disappeared off to instead of going to Jessica's wedding?" Olivia half asked and half stated.

"In all honesty at that time the governments believed that the expedition had been lost." Harry told her. "At the beginning of last week we managed to make our way home but our footing in the area is still strong and now with renewed logistics between us we're increasing the size of the expedition and Carson has been looking into both researchers and medical staff for the team that he will continue to head."

"So wherever it was you went you vanished off the grid and then suddenly you find a way back and you come back in a coma?" Olivia asked. "Jessica was petrified you were going to die for days."

"I will be the first to admit that the area is dangerous but not as much right now as when we travelled there without knowing what was there." Harry told her.

"Can you tell me anything else?" She asked.

"All else I can tell you before you sign the disclosure is that it's not only scientists like yourself going but a large military presence including myself." Harry told her. "You'll be protected by the best equipment and personnel that we have to offer."

"Is it really that dangerous?" She asked.

"It is, dear." Carson joined in the conversation. "I won't hide that from you. I'm fully aware that without the protection of the military and people like the Major the expedition would have failed long ago."

"But think of it this way, Doctor." Harry commented. "The world is putting their best scientists into this program and they wouldn't do that if they didn't think they could protect them. That said nobody is going to argue with you if you don't want to take part."

"I think I want to know more before I agree." She told him.

"You'll need to sign this before I can tell you any of the details." Harry told her. "And the details are where you'll be going if you agree and what the big danger is."

"And I can still say no after that?" She asked. Harry nodded before he pulled a small form from his pocket and laid it out on the table. She looked at him for a while before nodding almost to herself and took a pen and signed at the bottom of the form.

Harry nodded, folded it and put it back into his pocket. "You're aware that after signing that if you tell another soul about what we're about to discuss then you can be tried and convicted of treason by the US government?"

"I know." She nodded.

"Alright then." Harry nodded. "I'm guessing you have heard of the Lost City of Atlantis in books or in films?"

"Yeah, a city that was sunk to the bottom of the sea." She nodded. "Are you saying that they've found it?" Harry nodded. "Where?"

"In the Pegasus Galaxy." Harry said simply.

She rocked back slightly in surprise and blinked. "Uh..." She tried.

"For the last eight years the US Air Force have been using an alien device to form wormholes between planets in the Milky Way Galaxy and exploring other worlds and meeting many different cultures of aliens and learning from some of them and fighting others." Harry continued knowing that he had her undivided attention. "Eight months ago an alien attack on Earth destroyed the Nimitz Carrier Group in the Pacific Ocean and six months ago myself, a team of Marines and a team of scientists went through a wormhole to the City of Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy on a one way mission if we couldn't find a way home again. We now have a way to travel there and back whenever we want to and as I said before they are interested in increasing the size of the expedition."

"Atlantis?" She asked after a moment.

"Is basically a spaceship the size of New York City, built tens of thousands of years ago by an incredibly advanced race of aliens that have now disappeared." Harry continued. "They abandoned it ten thousand years ago and it has lain dormant until we woke it up."

"The knowledge that these aliens possessed before they abandoned the city is amazing." Carson told her. "Medical and scientific discoveries we couldn't dream of before. That's why we need the best and the brightest. To learn from what they left behind and to continue their research in a place where all of that is available."

"Then what's the danger?" She asked.

"Basically an alien race known as the Wraith." Harry said seriously. "One that feeds off of the life force of humans. They have ruled the Pegasus Galaxy for over ten thousand years, harvesting from the human planets until they were forced to hibernate from lack of food. Now that we've arrived in their area of space they know of Earth and have awoken and want to reach it. A new feeding ground. That's also why we need to be there. We can't just back away because they still know of this galaxy and will do anything to get here. We have to learn what we can from Atlantis so that we can defeat them."

"Defeat an alien race that's over ten thousand years old?" She asked.

"Our ships are better protected than theirs and Atlantis itself is far more advanced. We just need to learn from it to really use it." Harry told her. "So, are you interested?"

She stood up and moved to the window. "So you're basically asking me to come along with you to a place that is more dangerous than anywhere on Earth for science?"

"And to indirectly protect everyone you love." Harry stood up. "What has Jessica told you about my work?"

"She told me you test planes." Olivia told him. "And that you fight in jungles and wars too. She said you were Special Forces."

"She's not wrong." Harry told her. "But she doesn't know everything. I fly advanced ships and always have, testing new jets. But the work I do for the Special Forces is because I'm Black Ops. I do the work that we can't admit to. I'm basically a spy, insurgent or assassin depending on the day. I've been sent to kill Somali War Lords and a dozen other things the US can't admit to. The point I'm trying to make is that I don't do it for my own sense of achievement but to slowly better the world. I can't do much but I can do my little bit."

"I get what you're saying." Olivia told him before looking at Carson. "Is it worth it, Doctor?"

"To know that what we discover could be used on Earth to save lives?" The Doctor elaborated for her. "Yes it is. I'm no warrior, I'd quite happily hide behind the Major if guns start firing but I'm also aware that the Major and the Marines are as much dependant on us as we are of them. It makes any risk worthwhile."

Olivia turned to Harry. "And what about you?"

"Me?" Harry asked with a smirk. "I'm a weapon. I go where I'm needed the most because I can carry out the task when nobody else could."

"Alright, Major." Olivia nodded. "I'd like to assist you."

Harry nodded. "You know your sister is going to kill me right?"

"How's she going to know?" Olivia asked.

"I'm pulling a favour from the President." Harry told her with a shrug finally letting Carson in on the little secret. "Because you and I are the only family she had until Josh married her last month and we're both leaving on a mission where we may not make it back he's agreed to do me the one favour by giving her and Josh clearance for the details."

"Hence dinner." She rolled her eyes. "How did you know I'd agree?"

"I didn't, but I'm off work for the evening and I was going to drag you to dinner with your sister regardless." Harry laughed and turned to Carson. "Did you want to come with us or have the MPs drop you off somewhere?"

"I think I'll come along." Carson nodded. "If that's alright with you, Doctor?"

"Of course, and please call me Olivia if we're going to be working together." She smiled.

"Then call me Carson." He smiled back. "Now, how about we get going, the Major's been complaining about lack of food all day."

"The Major can hear you." Harry commented even as he grabbed his cap.

"And I can tell you a bit more about our research." Carson continued as if he couldn't hear Harry who just rolled his eyes and put his cap on and held the door open for Olivia and Carson.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Four days later – Atlantic Ocean**

"Cobra Flight, this is Viper One." Harry called.

"_This is Cobra One, go ahead."_ He got his response from the British Commander.

"For exercise your target is a task group heading west to the Caribbean, composed of one US Arleigh Burke, two Type 23 RN, one Type 45 RN, one RFA support Tanker, one RFA Fleet Support and one RN Helicopter Assault ship. Contact at five hundred miles is Lima-one-two HMS Ocean." Harry told him. "Be aware they will be training in aircraft avoidance and the warships will tag you. If you get tagged you're out of there. Your task is to lock onto the RFA ships on their beam at one mile distance."

"_Cobra flight, confirm copy of information." _Knight sounded rather amused that Harry was sending his flight against a mostly Royal Naval Task Group. In fact Harry was going easy on them because since three of the flight were Naval they knew what the ships could do and how they were trained to avoid exactly the lock that Harry was demanding. For starters any time the F-304s came into view or were reported by the awesome radars of the Arleigh Burke or the new Type 45 RN destroyer the RFAs would change course on purpose either towards the incoming ship or away, basically to take strikes on a turning target preferably with the extra armour and ballast tanks on the bow.

Harry listened with only half an ear as the three other units of Cobra flight reported into their flight commander. _"Viper One, we copy all information. Permission to detach from squadron."_

"Permission granted. Good luck." Harry told them before turning his own plane slowly into the north, intending to fly over the task group at high altitude. They were stealthed to all but the new sensors equipped on most of the warships in the joint navies but even against sensors like the Prometheus and the Daedalus had the F-304s were hard to spot when they wanted to be difficult to find. Harry knew that Cobra flight would hit the deck and skim the waves and try to take the ships by surprise but he wasn't going to go that easy on them. Pilots did operations like this against Naval ships all the time.

"Lima-one-two, this is Viper Flight approaching from the south." Harry called on the safety channel already established between himself and the task group so that he could talk to them about the exercise without the other F304s knowing. They could probably listen in if they wanted but the idea of these things was not to cheat. All the ships down there would have a man on this frequency though.

"_Viper Flight, this is Lima-one-two, go ahead, over."_ Unsurprisingly it was a British accent.

"Our Flight is about to make their run. I'm about to spring my surprise on them though. Give my best wishes to the Auxiliaries. Out." Harry told them before turning on his chat network with the other F304s but blocked out Cobra Flight. "Adder flight, block out all closed signals from Cobra flight."

"_Roger, Viper One."_ Captain Brokewell confirmed for him.

"Cobra's advantage over the ships is a little high for this tasking." Harry announced. "Your mission is to protect the task group. Good luck."

"_Adder one, roger. Permission to detach."_ Harry grinned but gave his permission and looked back to his left out of his own cock pit as the four planes of Adder flight banked hard to get away from the Vipers and accelerated. They'd have to rush if they were to get ahead of Cobra flight and protect the task group. That was why Harry had taken his time. The Captain of Adder flight would have to plan on the fly, literally.

"_That was a little on the mean side."_ Claire contacted him on the private Viper flight circuit. Harry just laughed and fell into reading his own radar and sensor output that already had the positions of the task group ships and their headings. He was being fed real time data from HMS Ocean, the helicopter assault ship, and with the subspace link he had to Cobra and Adder Flights he could watch the attack.

The attack went on for about an hour with neither flight having much luck but it was still good practice for them all including the ships as they manoeuvred across the water in response to the incoming planes.

"_Viper one, this is Viper three."_ Claire called him officially. _"I've got a communication coming in from the Ronald Reagan. Flash."_

"Pass it to me." Harry ordered. One of the pilots in the flight always monitored long range communications and then gave them to the others if necessary. Harry didn't really mean pass the message to him but merely told her in that phrase that he'd find the signal and respond to the Carrier Group on that frequency. "CG this is Viper One, go ahead, over." Harry spoke.

"_Viper One, you have emergency tasking. Viper Flight set course zero-one-zero true. Locate bravo-alpha seven-eight-one last known travelling eastbound. Commercial flight not responding to communications and last spotted by another commercial flight heading west in wrong area."_ Someone ordered and as they spoke Harry got the authorisation through the secure channel.

"Viper Flight has received information, changing course now." Harry replied. "Flight will go supersonic in twenty seconds."

Harry wiggled his wings and decreased his altitude even as he swung to the south of the besieged task group. "Safeguard. Cobra and Adder Flight. Viper flight has emergency tasking orders. Continue exercise under lima-one-two command and then return to CG."

Harry heard their responses before activating the logic control on his Viper and Iain, Claire and Alex did the same and as they passed above the task group their wings folded up and they sped up to Hypersonic speeds to cover the ground faster with their radars and automatic interrogation systems to find the missing commercial flight.

It didn't take long for them to find the commercial liner on their sensors. While flying over the north Atlantic Ocean they could detect every plane and ship between Europe and North America and it was merely a matter of finding one that fit the description. It was still broadcasting a close range AIS signal to say where it was supposed to be going and who it was but it's course wasn't the right one for landing at Heathrow Airport. Harry sent the Carrier Group the location and knew they'd disseminate it to the right people.

"_Viper One, maintain cover but attempt to communicate with the pilot over radio."_ He was told by the Ronald Reagan.

"Roger that CG." Harry said before letting his Viper scan all frequencies to find something that the plane was using even as he tried the normal low frequency ranges that planes used. "BA 781, this is Military Flight V-1 calling you on LF range. Please respond."

Even as he spoke the plane came into visual range. It was at thirty-five thousand feet, far above the clouds and even if his sensors hadn't already determined what it was Harry could recognise it now as a Boing 767. Harry tried to call it twice more as they swung around behind it to stay out of view of the windows and then pulled up around it. Harry flew under its belly while Iain took position above it. Alex and Claire slid up into its wake, far enough back not to land in the jet wash. This way they could look for damage without giving civilians a view of the classified airplanes. At least they'd be classified for the next four days.

"_Storm, I've got damage just aft of the pilot compartment." _Iain told him on the closed link. _"I think that's the comms gear compartment. Maybe a bad fire. That would explain the lack of response or location beacon but not their course."_

"Roger." Harry told him to show he'd heard before he contacted the CG. "CG, this is Viper One. We're in station around BA 781, out of sight, we can see possible internal fire damage to a possible comms compartment. Please advise course of action." Harry's instinct was to put his plane right down in front of the cockpit and get an answer that way even if it was through morse code with the tail lights but they were in classified planes so they might want Harry and his team to merely escort until a conventional jet could be vectored in to do that.

"_Viper One, this is CG control. Contact to Pentagon authorises you to take all means required to establish communications to the aircraft and ascertain emergency and help as required. Seek advice from UK Military Air Control." _The voice told him.

Harry was surprised but then again they were due to tell the world about the Vipers in a few days anyway. It wouldn't be too disastrous to have them seen helping a commercial flight in distress a few days early. It would be good publicity for them. "Roger CG. We're moving visual to the plane to establish light communications and hopefully get them on VHF or HF bands."

Because of the difference between high and low frequencies they were normally stored in different compartments and the VHF would be a mere hand held for talking to ground crews and a pilot wouldn't think to use the extremely short range systems unless they were in sight of another plane. He set Alex the task of contacting the UK for their own orders before he increased his own speed minutely to slide out from under the large passenger aircraft and then pulled up about half a mile to the starboard of it.

"Viper three." Harry called to Claire, "Take position ahead at half a mile, try to contact them with your tail lights. Get them to use VHF if they can."

"_Roger One."_ Claire responded and with a deft manoeuvre slid over the top of Iain's position and settled down ahead of the passenger plane. Almost instantly she began flashing a message, just a simple morse signal saying VHF over and over again.

Harry could see movement in the cockpit from where he sat and could see what looked to be a young man leaning up to the window to see better as well as a woman and another man. A few minutes later his sensors picked up a single click on a VHF frequency and zeroed in on channel sixteen. Harry put it through to his headset and used it to call. "BA 781 this is military flight leader V-1 on your starboard beam, please respond, over."

"_V-1, this is BA 781."_ Surprisingly it was the voice of the younger man by the sounds of it and Harry could see him holding the hand held radio to his mouth as he spoke. There was no way a not even twenty-year-old could be the pilot to that plane. _"Can you hear us?"_

"Loud and clear BA 781. Air control lost contact with you on long range systems, what's the situation and do you require assistance?" Harry asked.

"_There was a fire."_ The kid told him. _"We think the cockpit was flooded with CO2 from the drenching system. They're all..."_

He trailed off but Harry didn't have to really use his imagination to know where that was going. The scared tone of the kid's voice was bad enough. "What's your state now?" Harry asked to change the conversation.

"_We broke into the cockpit once we realised. The plane's on autopilot but we don't know where to and I don't know how to change the settings or find out where we're heading." _He told him.

"All right." Harry sounded calm but his mind was running away with him. "First off you need to relax a little. You're not in any immediate danger and the autopilot will keep you in the air. What's your name, and why are you in charge?"

"_I'm not in charge!"_ The kid told him. _"I'm just the only one here that's ever flown a plane before."_

"Okay, calm down. What's your name?" Harry pressed.

"_Matt Walker."_ Harry was told. _"I'm training to be a pilot in the RAF. All I've ever landed is a glider and I've been in a Sea Harrier a few times but only flown as navigator."_

"Alright, Matt. Just sit tight while I contact long range." Harry told him and made sure his VHF was listen only before switching to long range to talk to UK Air control. "This is Viper One, over."

"_Viper one, go ahead." _The response was fast and he knew by now they'd have a team at the ready just to focus on them.

"We've established communications with BA 781 on VHF channel 16 to a hand held in the cockpit." Harry told them. "Flight crew are dead, repeat, flight crew are dead. They've had a fire in the long range communications gear and a leak in the CO2 dampers. The autopilot is in control and I'm speaking to an RAF pilot in training called Matt Walker. He's only got very limited flying experience, noticeably landing in gliders."

"_Viper One. What is your assessment of the situation in regards to a possible hijacking of the plane and terrorist involvement?"_ Harry had been waiting for that and he'd already thought about it. Matt had already admitted to breaking into the cockpit.

"Air control, this is Viper One. I do not, repeat, do not believe that to be likely. I can see free movement of passengers throughout the plane and they are watching my plane through the windows." Harry told them. "I'm certain of that."

"_Do you believe yourself to be capable of determining terrorist situations?"_ Harry might have got annoyed except the tone was that of a person just covering all bases.

"My name is Major Harry Potter, US Air Force Special Forces." Harry told them. "I'm well trained and experienced in determining terrorist situations."

"_Roger understood."_ Was the rather relieved response. _"Try to establish any other information and we'll get back to you once we have a plan."_

"Roger. Out." Harry responded before turning to the Flight frequency to talk to the others. "This might get interesting. I think if the kid can take the controls we can talk him down onto a good sized runway. I don't see any other option right now. I can turn their course by talking him through the autopilot but that won't help him land."

He didn't expect a verbal answer but he got a click from each of them to show they'd heard so he changed back to the VHF channel. "Matt, are you still listening?"

"_I'm here."_ Matt told him. He seemed to have calmed down a little now.

"Alright Matt, we're forwarding any information directly ahead to the UK who are deciding how to get you down on the ground but we need to give them a bit of information so I want you to sit in the pilot's seat and look for the things I ask for on the console." Harry told him.

"_Alright."_ Matt told him and there was a small pause as presumably he did just that.

"Okay, you can ignore the stick right now. First off can you find the fuel tank levels. They should be just above the throttle control in the centre." Harry asked and Matt found them and reported the levels. Harry did this for almost ten minutes learning everything he could about the state of the plane and letting his Viper send the conversation on to the UK so they could take it into account. When they finished Harry cut the forwarding connection and focused purely on the kid. "Matt, that's all of it for now."

"_What do I have to do?"_

"Right now, nothing." Harry assured him. "It's actually going to be a little boring for you. This isn't like what happens in films."

"_What happens when we run out of fuel?"_ Matt asked.

"You'll be on the ground long before that happens, Matt." Harry assured him.

"_What's your name?" _Matt asked him.

"My name's Major Harry Potter but you can call me Harry or Storm if you want to, that's my call sign." Harry told him.

"_I know you."_ Matt told him. _"I went to the RAF academy and saw your name there! What are you flying?"_

"They are F-304s. US built." Harry told him. "My Flight are all around your plane. Viper Flight."

"_That's a really cool plane." _Matt told him and Harry heard Iain laugh over the closed link.

"How about I introduce you to the others?" Harry offered before opening the closed link to include the VHF channel. "Ahead of you is Lieutenant Claire Fields." He paused as she wiggled here wings slightly. "Viper four slide station off Viper three." Harry ordered and Alex flew low under the plane and up to the port of Claire. "This is Lieutenant Alex Carlthorpe. And lastly just overhead of you is my second in command Captain Iain Bennett." Harry introduced and Iain sped up a little bit to come out above the cockpit. "Two take station where three and four are. Three take the port beam and four take position five miles astern."

It didn't take long for them to move position. Alex and Claire broke away to port with Alex turning right around to take position as Claire slowed to take position even as Iain slide up and dropped down in front of the commercial liner. They were well practiced in manoeuvres like this one.

"_Viper One this is UK Air Control, over."_

"This is Viper One, go ahead." Harry responded quickly but checked that Matt wouldn't able to hear the words first.

"_We need to change 781s course to 108 degrees for a Mercator course to RAF Culdrose for landing."_ They told him. _"Can you talk them through that on the Autopilot?"_

"I can talk them through it but with your permission I'd rather give Matt the controls for the turn so that he can get used to them while we're over water with plenty of room. I don't want his first time at the sticks to be when he lands." Harry requested and half demanded.

"_Roger, Viper One. Do as you wish. You have the track."_ They told him.

Harry knew that that meant that as long as Harry guided the plane into Culdrose he could have Matt fly whatever course he wanted and at whatever altitude. "Alright Matt, you there still?" Harry asked on the VHF frequency but again let it be forwarded to the UK so they knew what he was doing.

"_I'm here."_ Matt told him.

"We need to change course. You're going to land at RAF Culdrose. I could tell you how to get the plane to change course on its own but I want you in control for the turn so you get a feel for the plane's handling." Harry told him. "You ready?"

"_I'm ready."_ Matt told him.

"Okay, is there someone else in the cockpit so you can use both hands on the sticks?" Harry asked.

There was a pause before a woman's voice came on. _"Hello? My name's Helen, I'm the chief stewardess."_

"Great." Harry told her. "Sit down in the co-pilots chair if you're not already."

"_I'm sitting down now."_

"Okay, Matt can you still hear me?" Harry checked.

"_I can hear you." _Matt told him. It was obvious that Helen was pressing the button down to talk. Once they were on a better course he'd try to find a way to get a headset on Matt for when they landed.

"Okay, Matt, give the sticks a go. It won't do anything to the plane, just give them a wiggle and get comfortable." He paused for a time. "Once you're happy just settle them in their natural angle and relax."

"_Ok. I'm set." _Matt told him.

"Right, Helen." Harry directed to the stewardess. "Can you see the autopilot?"

"_Yeah. It's reading zero-three-zero."_ She told him after a moment.

"Good, in the bottom corner is a small button that says auto slash in hand." Harry told her. "Find that but don't press it just yet."

"_I've got it."_ She assured him.

"Matt, once I tell Helen to press that button the controls will go to the sticks and you're going to turn them slightly to starboard. It's not like the stick on a fight plane or glider because you're not going to do a fast turn. The plane will tilt but this is going to be a very slow turn. What I want you to do is ignore the console and look up at Iain's plane ahead of you. He's going to do the turn and all you need to do is turn the plane so that he's in the centre of your window at all times. Can you do that?"

"_Yeah."_ Matt told him.

"Okay, here we go then. Helen press that button for me and be ready to press it again when I say." Harry told him and knew the exact moment she did it.

"_I'm in control."_ Matt told him.

"Right, just follow Iain." Harry reminded him and without needing to be told Iain began to slowly slide to the right of the plane. Harry angled out so he was clear but stayed in plain view of the cockpit windows. The plane tilted as Matt started the turn and it overshot Iain and levelled out but Matt rightly didn't try to turn back even though it wouldn't have been bad if he did. He understood that there wasn't any point. Iain's movement quickly lined back up with the plane's front and Matt started the turn again much slower, using Iain to guide him round on a steady course.

Iain settled down on the correct course and Matt finally settled onto the exact course. He'd managed it with only a couple of dips where the nose had dropped ever so slightly but by doing it that way he wasn't trying to steer by instruments which was a lesson that every pilot learnt in the end. "Okay, Helen, turn the autopilot back on again." Harry told her.

"_We're in auto."_ Helen told him. _"It says one-zero-eight."_

"Good." Harry nodded. "Okay Helen, go find something for Matt to eat and drink if you could." He assumed by the lack of response that she was doing just that or at least getting someone else to. "Matt? How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

"_I'm alright."_ Matt told him. _"Maybe a little..."_

"Scared?" Harry asked.

"_Yeah."_ Matt told him simply.

"Well you did well. You've got good instincts." Harry told him. "So, how about you tell me something about yourself?"

"_I'm nineteen, I'm in my first year of training. I went to the RAF academy." _Matt told him.

"What were you doing in the US?" Harry asked out of nothing more than to keep the kid talking. "A holiday?"

"_My godfather's working in the US on some long term classified mission and he got back a couple of weeks ago and flew me out to see him."_ Matt told him. _"He goes back out of contact next week though."_

"Does he enjoy the work?"

"_I don't think he's ever been happier."_ Matt told him. Harry found the details a little familiar especially with the timings but he wouldn't ask for a name until they were out of this situation.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry came alive from a period of quiet two hours later as they approached the coast of the UK and he knew he should formally ask to bring four heavily armed stealth fighters into their airspace so he called ahead.

"UK Military Air Control, this is Viper one requesting permission for myself and three others to cross into your airspace with weaponry in cargo for the purposes of escorting BA flight 781 into RAF Culdrose." Harry said formally.

"_Viper Flight you have clearance to enter UK airspace with our compliments and permission to take any course or altitude while in our airspace for the purpose of safely escorting said flight into RAF Culdrose." _The voice told him.

"Permission to land at RAF Culdrose once flight 781 is down on the runway?" Harry requested.

"_Permission granted." _He was told. _"RAF Culdrose is darkening the area around it except for runway and approach lights. It'll be as clear as can be for your pilot."_

"Roger and thank you." Harry told them before switching to the VHF to talk to Matt who now had a head set plugged into the radio, as did Helen. "Matt, you awake?"

"_I'm here."_ Matt told him.

"We're half an hour out now so we're going to start our descent and I'm going to talk you through the landing but you'll be the one doing everything and you've got to aim it. I think it'll be a little easier because it's dark out there." Harry told him. "Culdrose has blacked out the local town for you and their own buildings so the only light you'll see in the area is the approach lights and the runway. Iain's going to be ahead of you taking you in again with his lights on so you know if you're going too steep or too shallow."

"_Okay."_ Matt replied. He was obviously nervous and Harry wasn't surprised.

"I've gotten permission for us to land and we're going to set down right next to you once you've stopped and I'll see you myself down on the runway when you get off of that plane." Harry told him.

"_I'd like that, thanks."_ Matt told him.

"Is Helen there?" Harry asked and received a quick yes. "Alright, time to do this the normal way. Get everyone strapped in and I hate to say it but make sure the cockpit crew are secured. I hope you understand why."

"_They are and I'll just go back and get the crew to make sure everyone's strapped in and ready."_ Helen announced.

"And when you get back make sure the door to the cockpit is shut, we don't want any light reflecting on the windows." Harry told her. "Okay, Matt. We're going to turn off the autopilot from here on out so take the sticks with your left and turn off the autopilot." In this way Harry coached Matt in everything to do from the speed of the plane and angle of the flaps to his decreasing altitude as they approached the surface of the Earth. Harry got him used to glancing down at the console and taking in the level metre, altitude and speed in quick glances and merely had him follow Iain onto the right courses and altitudes.

It was a first time for Iain to come in like this too but Harry knew his second in command would manage it alright. It was just a very slow approach for them compared to their ability to come down hard and fast and throw their speed off in seconds.

"RAF Culdrose this is Viper Flight and BA 781 on approach trajectory, ten miles out." Harry reported so that Matt could hear as well.

"_Your approach looks perfect. Crash teams are prepped and ready to roll."_

"_Harry?"_ Matt called him. _"I can see Iain ahead but I can barely see you or the one on the left."_

"We don't have wing tip lights, these are switchblades." Harry paused for thought, they had tail lights and they were on but Matt couldn't see them and he was clearly looking for that little bit of proof that Harry was there monitoring his approach even if he wasn't speaking. "Alright, Claire, light 'em up. Forward flood lights."

"_Roger."_ Claire announced and together she and Harry turned on the two small but bright lights set into their noses designed for landing on unlit runways or even Aircraft Carrier decks. To Matt in the plane both Vipers were suddenly lit up by beams of white light that burst from just under their noses. Harry wiggled his stick a little to give the light a little bit of upwards and downwards movement before he steadied up again in the correct station.

Harry continued to guide Matt down towards the surface and soon the runway was clear directly ahead of them with darkness all around it for a couple of miles. It was a very intelligent man that had asked the local village to black out for the task and although there were a few lamps on down there it was obviously much darker than normal. Harry spotted the crash convoy down the side of the runway but their lights were off as well so as not to distract Matt but Harry could see them especially when the light from his and Claire's beams hit the runway. Harry ordered Matt to pull up at the right time and Matt responded silently pulling the nose of the plane up and it settled heavily onto the runway.

Harry spotted the first problem just before the nose wheel set down. The plane twisted slightly and when the wheel hit the ground it juddered violently sideways but Harry ignored the plane as it tried to turn and had Matt hit the brakes ordering him to increase the reverse thrust until the plane came to a stop. Harry, Claire and Iain hit their own power and shot off in front of the plane so they were clear and started a slow turn around the runway even as Harry craned his neck to watch the plane come to a slow halt just on the grass to the left of the runway. The front wheel was still on the runway but the left wheel had come off and even though Matt had tried to correct for it the slight imbalance at the start had been too much. The plane pointed into the end of the runway but it was safely on the ground.

Light burst up all over the runway as flood lights came on and the town lit back up and Harry, Claire and Iain were joined by Alex on their second turn. Harry opened a connection to his own Carrier Group to report. "CG this is Viper Flight, over."

"_Viper one, we have been monitoring. Well done."_ It was the voice of the Admiral.

"Base has given permission to land. What are your orders?" Harry asked.

"_Go meet the kid, Viper One, and relax. Rejoin the group tomorrow."_ The Admiral told him. _"We're happy for the F-304s to go public with this and we've got a man on the ground to handle the press."_

"Roger that, CG." Harry replied. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Together they did another circuit of the airfield so that the crash trucks, ambulances and security trucks could move in and only when the trucks were all in position did Harry call the airfield. "RAF Culdrose, permission to land on runway nine-zero."

"_Viper flight, permission is granted to land on runway nine-zero. Obstruction at three quarter mark."_ The controller told him. The Vipers didn't need that long to land so the plane in the middle of the runway wasn't a problem.

"RAF Culdrose, we'll land in two pairs." Harry told them before changing to the flight frequency. "Normal pairs." Which meant that Harry and Alex would land first and only once down would Iain and Claire land. It was a tactical landing really. Harry angled his plane into a tight turn and lined up with the runway and Alex took position directly on his right beam level with him. They dropped low to the ground and Alex turned on his beam light to show they were landing and they dropped speed rapidly and both touched down with perfection. They rolled freely wing to wing until about the third way mark before Harry signalled to slow and both inverted their thrusters which because of what they were reacted instantly and their speed quickly fell away. In the end they took almost three times the run way necessary to stop and then used their engines to roll forwards until they were wing tip to wing tip about a hundred metres behind the trucks around the plane.

The Vipers looked huge from a single person's view and a few seconds later even as a few uniformed people were beginning to move towards them Iain came up on Alex's other side and Claire came up on Harry's side, lining up across the runway. Again it was defensive because in this position all four could throw up their vertical thrusters and take off without their ion drives affecting each other but to the press by the plane it looked rather showy. Harry saw people walking out of the side of the plane and down the emergency slide but couldn't see anyone that could be Matt, nor any crew but they'd be the last off.

Harry powered down the drive and watched as the power bled away and then he released the hatch. He hit the catch for the built in ladder and as he unbuckled himself from his seat and unplugged his comms and statistics monitors plates in the side of the plane twisted to give him a series of footholds down the side of the smooth plane. Harry jumped down the last few to land on the floor and a Squadron Leader of the RAF came running up, saw his Major tabs on his jacket and smartly saluted him. Harry saluted back.

"Major Potter." The man offered his hand and Harry shook it. "I'm the on duty Flight officer. That was an excellent landing for the kid."

"Where is he?" Harry asked.

"In the cockpit still. He's a little shaken and he's already seen the tv cameras." The man told him. "The event hit the news about an hour ago along with details about your Flight and where the plane was to land. A little too much attention for my liking but they seemed confident in your ability to guide the plane down without trouble."

"I'd like to go up and see the kid. Maybe I can coax him out a little easier than anyone else." Harry told him.

"They're just setting up the steps now." He told Harry.

"And let's not bring out the cockpit crew until the cameras are off?" Harry suggested. "Oh and no pictures of my planes from anywhere closer than a hundred metres and anything taken needs checking with Military Intelligence. There's a lot of stuff in there we don't want advertised."

"We'd already banned photos but if you're happy with them taking them from a distance we'll let them know and I'll put guards up." He nodded before gesturing to Harry to follow him. Harry turned to Iain, Claire and Alex and motioned for them to stay and watch the planes and see to them. Eventually they'd need moving.

Harry was led through the press but he didn't say anything to any of them and ignored the photos and quickly climbed the steps into the front of the airplane and met a steward at the top. "Major Potter?" The man asked and Harry nodded. "Helen's with Matt up in the cockpit but most of the passengers want to see him. We've told them he's a little shaken up right now."

"That's understandable don't you think." Harry pointed out. "I'll find the way."

He headed up through the seats to the broken cockpit door which stood open at the moment and he quickly entered the cockpit where a woman in British Airways colours was sitting opposite a young man with red hair and shockingly pale features though that was probably because he was in shock. She looked up at him and stood in surprise. Harry smiled at her but turned to Matt.

"I said you could do it." Harry told the kid with a smile and Matt snapped his head up to look at him. "Good job, kid."

Matt jumped up and before Harry could comment hugged Harry gratefully. "Thank you, Sir."

"It's Harry, kid." Harry told him. "And you've nothing to thank me for. There are over a hundred people out there that think you are a hero. You stepped up and you did what had to be done. I might have helped guide you but this couldn't have been done by just anybody."

"The Major's right. We owe you our lives." Helen told Matt who pulled away from Harry and nodded.

"Right, well there's a whole lot of grateful people out there and a lot of impressed press so how about we take you out and you can let them take pictures and smile and say how pleased you are that you were able to help save these people?" Harry offered.

"You're not going to leave me to them right?" Matt asked.

"I said I'd stick by you until you were safe, that includes from the press." Harry told him with a grin. "After we're free of them we'll sort out calling your godfather to tell him you're alright and then we'll sort you out some food. Iain, Claire, Alex and I will be going out for dinner probably so you can come with us if you'd like."

"I'd like that thanks." Matt nodded.

Harry led the two to the steps and walked outside. A camera went off almost immediately and soon a dozen more as Matt stepped out into the open and together they walked down with Helen behind them. She took place on Matt's other side at the bottom of the steps. Quite quickly they were surrounded by cameras and reporters, some seeming to be live to tv stations.

Harry held up his hands to show he'd say something first before people began shouting question. "I think we can all realise how lucky we were today. You are reporting on a young man's bravery and fortitude when you could have been reporting the tragic deaths of those on this flight. I don't believe anyone in this crowd could suggest that Matt Walker is anything but a true hero that the United Kingdom, indeed the world, can be proud of."

"How's it feel?" A reporter asked Matt and held out his microphone.

"It still hasn't really sunk in." Matt said quietly. "I suppose I'm just glad to be alive."

"Do you think anybody could have done what he did?" One asked Harry.

"I believe that anyone could have had the courage to step up in that situation and try to save the other passengers but had it not been for Matt's basic understanding of aircraft this day might have turned out very different." Harry explained. "That said, I have been flying aircraft for almost ten years and not once have I attempted to land anything larger than a C141 Galaxy. What Matt did shows his instinctual ability for flying and I'm sure the RAF will be interested in his career from now on just as I will."

"Is there any truth to the rumours that your flight might have been responsible for the loss of the cockpit crew and that was why you were able to arrive so fast and why you've taken such an interest in the passengers safety?" Harry frowned over at the man that had asked the question.

"My flight was conducting air raid drills with a Royal Navy task group a thousand miles south of flight 781 when we received word that they'd lost track of the flight and we were asked to look into it." Harry told them. "The pilots in my flight are the best in the world and have been testing the new craft for over a year now. We don't make mistakes and we don't cause accidents especially like this."

Harry's response was cold and it cut off any further questioning along those lines. "Now, if you don't mind I believe there are many people that wish to thank Matt for what he did for them and they are all in need of food and rest. You are welcome to ask the US affiliate questions about our planes but any further questions to Matt will have to wait until he has recovered."

Harry looked to the RAF guards who broke through the crowd and escorted Matt, Helen and Harry out to where the ambulances were stations and where the passengers stood.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two hours later**

Harry sat on the edge of his Viper's cockpit as Matt sat in the seat. Matt hadn't stopped talking about them for the last two hours so before they left for the Officer's wardroom on the base so that the five of them could eat a very late evening meal he'd brought Matt to the hanger where his Viper was resting for the night.

"This is so cool!" Matt told him. "There's like five times the stuff in here than in a Harrier."

"Well it's designed to go into space so I'm not surprised." Harry said with a grin especially at Matt's shocked look.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." Harry laughed. "So, how about we call that godfather of yours? It's about six over in the US now so it's an ideal time to try and I imagine he's worried sick after seeing you on about every news channel in the western world."

He'd found out in the last few hours that Matt's parents had been killed in their home in Scotland eleven years ago and Matt's godfather had raised him through school but beyond that Matt didn't really talk about it. Harry was a little bewildered by the terrorist attack and something deep in his heart was pained by the timing of the attacks. It would have been just after Voldemort had been raised from his pseudo-death so there was a high chance that Matt's parents had been killed in that horrible sport called Muggle-hunting that the Death Eaters had enjoyed.

Matt sighed and made to pull himself out of the cockpit. Harry laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're sitting in one of the most advanced pieces of kit in the world and you're getting out to what? Use a cell phone?"

"Seriously?" He asked.

Harry laughed. "Seriously. You'll have to power her up first, there's no point draining the batteries for a long distance call." Harry leaned down and checked on about two dozen different settings in the cockpit and Matt tried and failed to follow everything he was doing. Harry then leaned out and checked everything was clear before turning back to Matt. "Hit the red button under the cap." Harry told him.

Matt glanced at him, shrugged and hit the button as ordered and then jumped as the Viper shook as the ion drive kicked in with a loud thud before quieting. Harry had turned it to its idling stage so the engines themselves didn't kick in and as soon as the initial start up was complete the sound faded to a dull throbbing. "What's this run off of?" Matt asked.

"Technically we're not saying." Harry told him. "But the closest thing to compare it to is a Nuclear Core. Like the submarines. So she doesn't need refuelling."

"Cool." Matt told him and Harry laughed again. "I wish I could have one like this."

"Maybe." Harry told him. "I've got three flights under my control and one Russian, one French and three British pilots so far. And besides..." Harry trailed off as he reached over and flicked his left arm where his Union Jack sat above his Stars and Stripes. "So, the Ronald Reagan has given permission for you to just jack into the cell phone towers and dial your godfather."

"Really?"

"You know, one day you're just going to accept what I say the first time." Harry laughed and Matt went bright red. "Okay then, let me just..." He trailed off again as he started using the touch screen in the centre of the console to select the correct signal intercept systems and finally had a connection via military systems of the US cell towers. He opened the lip on the number dial pad that was used for anything from course input to bomb activation codes and turned to Matt. "You know the number? Type it in, just like you would direct."

Matt nodded and typed the number and Harry connected it and the speakers inside the cockpit just behind Matt's head came to life with the sound of ringing. Harry checked more out of habit than anything else and saw that the line was secure and the Viper wasn't detecting any intrusion into the signal along any of the route. A voice answered and Harry almost fell off of his own cockpit sill in surprise.

"_Hello?"_ It was Carson. Carson Becket was this kid's bloody godfather.

"Uncle Carson?" Matt asked speaking slightly louder than necessary with the sensitive microphones. Harry made a gesture to show he didn't have to be quite so loud.

"_Matt! Are you alright?"_ Carson sighed in relief even as he asked the question.

"Carson you old devil. You never told me you had a godson." Harry spoke up making Matt look at him in surprise.

"_Harry, you better be looking after my godson!"_ Carson told him.

"Hey! How do you know Major Potter?" Matt asked.

"We work together." Harry told Matt. "On that mission that you mentioned earlier. I just didn't realise you meant Carson. Small world I suppose."

"_That or I just can't get rid of you, Harry."_ Carson said in amusement._ "So, Matt. Are you alright? I saw you on the news next to Harry."_

"I'm fine, Uncle Carson. I think I actually landed early." Matt said with a grin and Harry burst out laughing.

"_God, you're starting to sound like the Major and you've only known him half a day."_ Carson laughed but he was clearly simply relieved and Harry wasn't surprised. _"Well Major, you look after him for me."_

"Well I kind of have to now." Harry made a dramatic sigh. "You're the one that patches me up. Heavens knows what you'll do to me now if he gets hurt on my watch."

"_Major. Be serious for a change."_ Carson told him yet he still sounded a little on the amused side.

"He'll be fine, Carson." Harry told him. "If I can ever get him out of my cockpit again."

Matt grinned at him. "I love you, Uncle Carson." Matt told the Doctor.

"_I love you too, Matt. Take care and I'll talk to you as soon as I can."_

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few days later**

Harry sat at the side of the table as he finished his food and merely sipped at the nice wine that the table was sharing. It was one of the last nights they had on Earth and tomorrow would be a day away from everyone else to relax before they boarded the Daedalus. Harry had come back to Colorado Springs yesterday while the other pilots had returned to their own homes for a few days with their families and John, Elizabeth, Carson and himself had gone out for the meal. They were in a nice restaurant not all that far from Harry's apartment though he'd only stayed their last night and not the rest of the time. He'd either been at Jess' new house or on Kodiak Island.

Carson was telling everyone about when he'd turned on the news the other day to find out about the emergency on flight 781. He'd been terrified to discover that the plane had vanished and the first thing he'd done was call Stargate Command to ask them to use the Daedalus to track down the plane. They were about to power up the ship which had been on the surface doing a work up but were stood down when Harry's flight located the plane and reported in. Carson had promptly been informed by Stargate Command that a military flight had located the plane and were escorting it into the UK.

What he hadn't know until he saw the plane on the news after it landed was that not only had Harry been the one leading the military flight but his own godson had been the one to land the plane at the RAF base. He'd almost died of shock when he'd seen Harry standing next to Matt on CNN.

Harry had been amused throughout the story and John couldn't keep the grin off of his face as they sat opposite each other. As Carson finished the story with the telling of how Harry had contacted him from the Viper and Harry looked up at John and smiled. John shared the smile before Harry looked at Elizabeth as she spoke. "What are your plans tomorrow?"

"Oh, I've got a couple of SFs coming to my apartment to pick up all my kit so it can be put on the Daedalus. I'm not boarding until we're in space. We're going to try to get a few shots in." Harry said before grinning wickedly at Carson. "It'll be good payback to shot at the ship you're in for a change."

John and Elizabeth burst out laughing just as they were brought the bill for the meal and they worked out who owed what while Carson defended himself regardless of their continued laughing.

As they walked outside half an hour later after having another drink in the bar they split up and Harry found himself walking with John. "I'm going to walk back to my apartment from here, are you getting a taxi?" Harry asked him.

John glanced around before spotting the entrance the park and pulled Harry into it and walked a few paces before hiding behind a tree and motioning to Harry. Harry glanced around to see if they were being followed before moving a little closer. "What are you doing?"

"Harry, I've been thinking. We said on Atlantis that if we were on Earth things would be different. Well we're on Earth now..." John told him.

"John." Harry sighed. "In two days we'll be back on Daedalus and even if it was another two weeks we'd still have our duty to consider. What's more important to you, your duty or this...?"

"Until I saw you killing yourself in Atlantis and then lying in a coma in hospital I'd have said we couldn't have both but now I say we can." John told him. "If we keep it low key and control ourselves nobody needs know and we're both capable of not letting it affect how we work."

"You're serious about this aren't you." Harry stated more than asked and John nodded. Harry sighed. "Let's go back to my apartment and we can talk."

"Harry, if we go back to your apartment there's other stuff we're going to do before we talk." John told him with a laugh.

Harry stepped closer and smirked. "That was the idea."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	13. Old and new allies

Cast between Worlds

**A/N; This chapter contains scenes of a sexual nature between two men. These scenes are short but left in because they deepen the story line to the extent I need for this story.**

Chapter 13; Old and new allies

**Andrew Airforce Base; Colorado**

"Right, I hope you've all said your goodbyes because who knows when you'll next get a chance to come back to this world." Harry stood at the front of the pilot's waiting room. The chairs were filled with his own flight plus Adder and Cobra flights. It was time for them to set off. "Our first chance to really prove ourselves happens right now and as soon as you get out of this room I want eyes focused only on the task. Be professional, act like the teams you are and above all else I don't want any goddamned gaps in our manoeuvres. The HMS Ocean picked up that there were holes in our offenses and this time we're up against the Daedalus with all of its crew focused on us. They won't be dodging us, they'll be trying just to shoot us down. We can't hide that well from their sensors so it's up to us to confuse them and that means perfect manoeuvring. I want to see you two assessing the entire situation every second and then I want you to recognise where you need to change your plans and I want you do order your flight to do it and then I want it done."

Harry addressed the last part to Commander Justin Knight, RN, and Captain Neil Brokewell USAF, the two Flight Commanders and he got a nod of agreement from Justin Knight even if Neil Brokewell didn't look happy about being put on the spot. Harry continued. "I'll be right in the thick of it as well doing the same thing." Harry told them all. "And the channels stay open to all X-304s because this attack is for the twelve of us and not our three flights. If I notice a problem and a solution doesn't happen before I have to intervene I won't be most impressed. If I have to suggest something about another Flight that isn't my own because you've gotten yourself tied down unnecessarily I'll want an explanation why later. That said it's not all on myself, Commander Knight and Captain Brokewell to fix everything up there. You're all here because you're the best and that includes having initiative and common sense so I want to see it used. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir!" Most of the room called out even as Claire, Alex and Iain replied a little more subdued. They were used to Harry's personality. They knew he had a nicer side but that he rarely showed it. With their short training schedule and with them redeploying the other eight pilots were getting Harry's more ruthless side.

"Move out then." Harry told them and they all stood and headed out. They were all already kitted out minus their helmets. Iain paused to wait for him but when he noticed that Knight, who as a Commander of a senior service actually outranked Iain and Brokewell very slightly, was waiting to have a word with him. Harry nodded to Iain who went out to get their Flight ready to leave. "You know we're a little short on time, Commander."

"Yes, Major." Knight nodded unapologetically. "But I felt it right to bring something to your attention before we officially join the Daedalus and are deployed."

"Make it quick then." Harry nodded but his tone belied that he was taking the time.

"You know that Flight Lieutenant Izzy Maxwell was tagged during the attack simulation against the RNTG?" He prompted and Harry nodded. She wasn't the only one but she was the only one that got tagged by Cobra flight even though Cobra flight had been attacking the ships, she'd been left out in the open by her wingman. Harry knew perfectly well that if her wingman hadn't abandoned her to get a hit on Knight she would have had the cover to defend the RFA tanker like she was supposed to.

"What of it, Commander?" He asked when Knight didn't instantly continue.

"Brokewell ripped into her about it in front of most everyone back on the Ronald Reagan while you were in England." Knight told him. "I wasn't around but I know she's been to Claire Fields about it."

"It's Brokewell's flight, Commander." Harry pointed out. "What he debriefs isn't up to you or I."

"That's bull, Sir." Knight told him and Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "And you know it. What he did was out of order and borders on bullying and you know he's doing it to put the blame on her instead of him. A member of his flight got taken out by the bombers. That shouldn't have been a possibility except that Brokewell was more interested in getting a kill for himself than controlling his flights tactics properly."

"That's enough, Commander." Harry said simply. "Brokewell is part of this program because of a recommendation from the Chief of the Airforce. His position isn't negotiable and his actions are not up for critique by everyone in our Flights."

"Sir." Knight swallowed even though he was older than Harry. They all knew that Harry had a dangerous side and it hadn't been long before they'd all found out about his Black Ops history.

"We can't afford right now for this sort of squabbling to spread out of our three Flights or we'll become the discussion of the week for the militaries of four countries." Harry told him simply. "Now go get your Flight ready to go."

Knight didn't look happy but he nodded to Harry respectfully, braced for a moment before turning to leave. "And Commander?" Harry asked. "Trust that I will not tolerate Brokewell's ill treatment of his Flight for long. I'm perfectly aware of what happens in this squadron."

Knight glanced at his quick turnaround but knew better than to comment on it and knew that as far as anyone else was concerned it hadn't happened. Officially Knight had just been told to keep his nose out of another Flight's troubles but unofficially he'd been promised that Harry would deal with it one way or another.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Vipers didn't have any form of shields but their Trinium-ceramic armour plating deflected heat extremely well and the coldness of space quickly cooled them down as their view went from blurred and shrouded to the vast blackness of space. Their viewers automatically adjusted to give them a better view and all twelve of them reached to the side of their cockpits to alter them ever so slightly. The computer automatically saved such alterations so that if it ever detected the same range of light it would set the same settings.

They automatically formed up in their standard twelve-ship formation with Knight in the front with his flight around him, two on his wings and then one away on his right wingman's other side. Knight, as his second was in command of navigation when in this sort of situation so that Harry could focus on everything else. Harry himself was set back on the left of the Cobra flight with Alex and then Claire on his left and Iain on the inside of the whole formation on his right wing. Then on Cobra flight's own flank, set back just a bit further than Viper flight was Adder flight with Brokewell in front and his flight set up in a way opposite to Harry's. That way they were in a V shape, almost like Geese formations with only two X-304s with their views obstructed.

By keeping the same formations everyone knew what to do for certain situations. If someone shouted break the three Flights would separate onto three different planes, confusing pursuers as much as possible.

"Cobra, Adder, this is Viper-one." Harry spoke on the closed X-304 frequency. "We all know the drill. Target is bearing dead ahead, range four thousand miles. Attack sequence to be initiated at Cobra-ones mark when hitting two thousand miles. Adder flight, remember if you don't score the hits on the starboard hanger bay in the first two minutes we'll have X-302s to worry about too. Cobra remember your job is to distract the flak and draw it's attention away from Adder flight and Viper flight. Viper flight have the big hits this time, priority Hyperdrive and sublight. All confirm copy."

He listened to the other eleven all give their call signs before speaking again. "Alright guys, she's a big one and the pride of the Planet Earth, she took out several Hive ships and saved Atlantis from certain destruction. Let's not let the poor crew get complacent."

He heard Alex, Claire and Iain laugh on their open Flight-only net and cut the transmission and let Knight take over the approach to the attack distance. It past within ten seconds of Harry finishing his speech and Knight came on the waves. _"Mark, all Flights attack run."_

Cobra and Adder flight surged forwards following Harry's attack scenarios and Harry angled his own Viper down towards his own Flight's approach trajectory even as Adder Flight fell back and in behind Cobra Flight and quickly the two Flights closed in.

"_There we go, Storm."_ Iain announced. _"She's turning, her sterns moving out of aspect. Shields coming up."_

Her shields had been carefully configured to pick up the location and amount of 'weapons fire' that it was struck by. In return the twelve X-304s had had their own armaments replaced with tagging systems that sent out a beam specific in frequency for each of their weapons so that the Daedalus' computers could work out exactly what damage was being done to her and where. The same had been done in reverse, her own rail guns had been retrofitted to emit a specific pulse that the Viper's could pick up and tell their pilots if they'd been hit and would record the damage. It was a neat set up especially since with the right filters on their view screens all of these pulses of energy could be seen.

Cobra quickly closed with the Daedalus and Harry spared a small grin under his face shield as blue stabs of light flickered up from several places on her hull reaching out for the four closest X-304s. The Flight broke in two and flew to either side of the Daedalus and Harry saw exactly what he'd predicted. The rail gun crews had underestimated their passing speeds and their initial alterations of angle to follow the X-304s were too slow and Cobra flight was beam on to the ship and sliding past before they realised their mistake but they were still angled wrong when Adder flight, overlooked, broke into two pairs and their weapons came online, laying weapons fire and missiles right onto the shield over the hanger bay, one pair after another.

Harry knew those shields well just like he knew the abilities of every ship and aircraft. That was more concentrated weapons fire than one area of the Daedalus' shields could take and within ten seconds of the dogfight the Daedalus had lost her X-302s. Viper Flight had gone mostly unnoticed as they dropped down below the ship while the other eight X-304s strafed the ship, dodging rail gun shots but their main purpose was to distract the Daedalus and if they got the chance take out her gun emplacements, communications and shield emitters.

The Daedalus powered up her engines just as Harry's Flight reached their position. They'd past right under her at a thousand yards before spinning around to aim directly at her drive vents, where they could do some critical damage. The Daedalus probably wasn't trying to dodge them but merely trying to make it harder for the eight it was already fighting to hassle it. The Daedalus was the fortress but as long as it was on the move the pilots attacking her had to make sure they stayed clear of as many of the weapons arcs as possible and that was no mean feat when the crew of the Daedalus could push her into any manoeuvre without warning.

"Viper Flight, lock on target, starboard inner vent. Long range." Harry ordered even as he selected his own lock with the eight high explosive ship destroyers that they each held designed to do serious damage to the Wraith Cruisers. The F-302s didn't have the power or the computer capacity to carry such weapons and they'd decided that the Daedalus couldn't get close enough to Hive ships or cruisers to use them without them being intercepted by Darts as had been seen over Atlantis. This was what the X-304s had been designed for, to be heavy bombers and they excelled at that more than they excelled at short range dog fighting.

"_Adder-three and four." _Knight's voice cut in and Harry paused in his order to fire as the leader of Cobra flight addressed the other flight. _"You're going to get bogged down."_

Harry scanned his screens but Iain beat him to it. _"Adder-one and two moved too close to Cobra flight, three and four are out on their own with half of the Daedalus' weapons on them."_

"Let him fix the problem, Cobra-one." Harry cut in sharply and with a 'do what I say or I'll bust your arse' tone. He made sure that only his own flight and Knight heard it before opening the comms up again.

"_The Daedalus is turning sharply."_ Iain told him. It was his designated job in the Flight to monitor every movement that the target made and assess it for Harry. _"Putting as many weapons on Adder-three and four as it could."_

"Viper flight, fire all load." Harry ordered letting himself come back onto his own mission just as they came into range. Unluckily for the Daedalus the first warning they got was when thirty-two faked ZX-mk-9 missiles were picked up by their radar and only had about eight seconds to attempt to turn enough to shield her engines. The first fifteen missiles struck the shield which then dutifully told everyone that the rear shields had fallen. The last ones slammed into the back of the ship, taking with it the sublight and Hyperdrive systems. The computer informed the crew of the Daedalus that there was a high probability that they had probably lost all power as well.

"_All vessels, this is Colonel Caldwell. End of exercise, end of exercise. Shield is being lowered now. Board in your designated hangers." _There was a pause. _"Well done."_

Harry altered heading to take a loose circle around the Daedalus as Cobra and Adder regrouped and moved towards a hanger each. Harry started a slight spin and Alex, Claire and Iain copied the gesture rolling around his ship. It was a preventative manoeuvre which was very hard to do in manual but the ships could do it in automatic if you set it. Doing it like this, in manual, was good practice. It helped to prevent most types of targeting lock because most computer systems couldn't target the ships individually with such a twisting motion. Most tried to lock onto them as a whole target which then vanished when they changed motion.

Harry altered course again and quickly his Flight landed in the same hanger as Cobra Flight. "All X-304 pilots this is Viper-one. Get to the safety brief and then get your gear and get yourself stowed. Mission debrief will take place in three hours time. Get something to eat and a shower and I'll see you all there."

He received a round of clicks before he powered down his Viper and popped the hatch. He quickly made his way down to the floor knowing that he'd have time to clean up his bird after all the de-briefing was done. He nodded to Claire, Alex and Iain before spotting Knight heading over to him. He waved his own flight on before pausing and turning to glance down the bay towards the hanger doors and then back along to the main internal airlocks. It was an impressive sight, far larger than any Aircraft carrier on earth. The far end was filled with eighteen X-302s and then facing towards each other were the eight larger X-304s with their switchblades closed. Cobra flight on the right and Viper flight on the left, all nearly perfectly lined up.

"Major Potter." Knight greeted. "I suppose that could be called a success."

"I'd call it a complete and utter fuck up." Harry almost snapped. "And so would you so stop testing the waters."

"I'm sorry, Sir." Knight didn't sound all that apologetic. "I don't take losing two ships lightly either."

"And what would you have ordered if I hadn't ordered your mouth shut?" Harry asked.

"I would have ordered three and four to bail down under the Daedalus and for one and two to regroup with them and get the hell on their own sector of the assault." Knight told him. "Adder one and two should never had closed on my formation, it allowed the Daedalus to concentrate all her port fire on only two ships and when the Daedalus realised that it turned to face them to bring all of its weapons on them."

Harry clucked his tongue but didn't say anything until they were inside the ship's main corridors and walking towards the changing room where they could get rid of their equipment. Harry paused outside the door and grabbed Knight's arm. "I'm ordering you not to stir up trouble with Brokewell. The officials that suggested his placement on the program have friends in high places, high places in Britain that could very well have you removed if you get on his wrong side. So I'm ordering you to back off, at least when around him. I like your instincts out there, Commander, so don't waste them causing trouble where it's not needed."

"Understood, Sir." Knight clearly appreciated the warning, especially from a British man like Harry was. Together they went into the changing room but Harry didn't speak to anyone else and merely dropped off his equipment into the locker with his name on it. 'Major H. Potter USAF' and then headed back out again where he found an airman waiting for him.

The man braced and saluted and Harry saluted back as expected. "Colonel Caldwell sent me down in case you wished to go to the bridge."

"Lead the way then, Airman." Harry nodded and silently walked with the man up to the Bridge. Colonel Caldwell was sitting in his chair while his people ran through the pre-deployment checks and a team with Rodney ran through getting the weapons and shields back to normal before they left.

Harry braced and saluted the Colonel as the man spotted him and stood up. "Sir." Harry greeted formally after the Colonel had returned his salute.

"Welcome onboard, Major Potter." Caldwell nodded. "It will be interesting to see how the Daedalus suits the roll of a bomber delivery vessel."

"Indeed, Sir." Harry nodded before turning to the other two in the room that he could greet formally without insulting the Colonel by ignoring him. "Doctor Weir, Colonel Sheppard." Harry braced for John but knew he could use Colonel instead of his full title of Lieutenant Colonel since he was addressing him and not listing his rank.

"Harry." Elizabeth smiled while John just nodded with a small smile on his face clearly remembering the night before. And this morning for that matter. "That was definitely interesting."

"Major." Caldwell motioned to the front of the Bridge and led the three of them to the window screens and away from his crew. "What happened out there?"

"We completed the mission." Harry told him. "We disabled if not destroyed the Daedalus as ordered."

"And the rest of it?" Caldwell asked.

"Was a complete disaster, Sir." Harry nodded.

"What?" Elizabeth gasped.

"The Daedalus shouldn't have had the opportunity to pick out the two X-304s on the port side like it did." John sighed knowing what had gone wrong.

"I compliment your crew on recognising the opportunity and reacting to take advantage of it." Harry nodded to Caldwell.

"Why didn't you order them out?" Caldwell asked.

"I made it clear that I expected the Flight Commanders to deal with any arising situation, Sir." Harry told him. "Commander Knight of the other Flight recognised the problem as soon as it appeared but I ordered him to let Adder's Flight commander deal with it."

"Deal with a problem he created." John pointed out. "Did he?"

"He did not react with a solution before your crew recognised the opportunity and took it." Harry shook his head.

"That's a rather severe oversight on his behalf." Caldwell pointed out.

"I'm aware of that, Colonel." Harry nodded.

"Even with that, Major. Your Flights did very well, especially with the first strike. We were not prepared for the first flight to draw our fire like that." Caldwell complimented. "Nor the second to be able to hit so hard. And your own Flight got around us without us realising your intentions. I admit I did believe you were standing by to reinforce not to make the main strike."

"Given time, Colonel, you and your crew will really understand and come to terms with the speed of the X-304s and that changes the way you have to look at strikes from us." Harry nodded. "Currently we are using that to our advantage, we'll have to look for different methods soon enough I believe." Caldwell smiled at the veiled compliment and dismissed Harry with a nod.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry sat with a cup of coffee in his hands in the early morning half staring at the table and half out of the window of the crew space at the purple and black of Hyperspace. It was strange to him and it was one of the first times he'd witnessed it. He felt claustrophobic and was having serious trouble keeping it together and he hoped nobody had noticed.

He wasn't bad in his Viper because the sense of freedom he got overwhelmed the fear of small spaces he'd always suffered from after his childhood but out here on the Daedalus it was beginning to creep in on him. He'd spent the last two nights waking up in a panicked sweat, imagining that he was being yanked out of his bed by his Uncle and found himself cringing away from a slap or a beating only to find himself alone in his pitch black room.

The problem wasn't space, his senses could detect trace particles in the air out in space, small charged particles floating around or moving slowly away from the sun. Space was a nothingness but it was filled with things, even if sparsely. Hyperspace on the other hand was a vast emptiness all around him with only the small island of atmosphere that was the Daedalus and he hated it with a vengeance. Even thinking about it made the walls start to close in on him and he made his eyes look out of the window and at the purple and black swirling mass but that only half helped since he knew it was nothingness but he could half imagine it was something solid. Perhaps even a storm but when he thought like that he wanted to touch the storm and bend it to his will which only had him grasping at nothing again.

He swore to himself and almost stood up to head to the only sanctuary he had, his Viper, but was surprised as somebody touched his shoulder gently making him bolt up to his feet and round on them only to find himself facing the amused face of John. "Bastard." Harry hissed through his teeth which only made him laugh all the more. "Bastard." Harry reiterated as he sat down.

"You look a little off, Harry." John told him before sitting opposite him. "Can't you sleep?"

Harry looked at him and saw the genuine concern there. "Not more than a couple of hours both nights we've been on board. And then I didn't get much sleep the night before we left." Harry had to add the last part just to cheer himself up again and half to prove to himself that it had happened when John's smirk grew a little before vanishing off of his face.

"Why can't you sleep?" John asked.

Harry started nervously tapping his fingers on the table top and tried to stop by crossing his arms and leaning forwards and he knew it made him seem like he was deranged but he didn't have any other option. "Nightmares." He muttered knowing that he could talk to John.

"About?" John asked.

"Family stuff." Harry said simply.

"I thought you didn't have any family left?" John asked.

"Not close family." Harry shook his head and made fists with his hands to stall the motions of his fingers. "My mother's sister has a husband and a son. I think my cousin has a wife and daughter now too but I'm not sure."

"You don't know?" John asked. Harry shook his head. "Wait, how do they give you nightmares?" Harry stilled completely and met John's eyes with pained ones and John's eyes widened in shock which turned to horror and then sympathy. "Oh...." John muttered.

"I was put with them when I was one after my parents were murdered." Harry told him truthfully knowing that in a 'relationship' like theirs, hidden from everyone else, they'd have to be completely truthful to each other about their lives. Well except for the magic part because he didn't want anyone to ever know that. Not ever, especially not anyone at Atlantis. Harry couldn't let them find out no matter the cost. Harry rubbed at his head to soothe his sudden headache and distracted himself from his thoughts by turning back to John. "I suppose it doesn't really matter now, it's over with and they've been dealt with by the authorities for it. At least my Aunt and Uncle were. My cousin was just a kid, a brat of a whale but a kid none-the-less."

"So what does this have to do with your sudden nightmares? I don't remember you having any trouble in Atlantis." John asked with a concerned frown.

"I'm claustrophobic." Harry winced after admitting that.

John's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "A fighter pilot who gets claustrophobic?"

"I don't get it when I'm in my jet, the freedom..." Harry trailed off, unable to really describe it but by the understanding light that came on in John's eyes he knew the helicopter pilot understood.

"So what's the problem on here?" John asked. "It's not a small ship and you have your own cabin and everything."

"But we're basically on a little island in a vast nothingness." Harry told him. "When I'm in orbit in my Viper I can feel small traces of things all around me in every direction and I can feel the Earth's atmosphere. My range is massive in space. I'm surrounded and that's okay but here in Hyperspace." Harry shuddered and nervously looked around even as his fingers started tapping again. He hated feeling so weak but it was John. John wouldn't care that he had a weakness and he didn't mind John knowing because he knew John wouldn't judge him.

"What do you feel in Hyperspace?" John asked.

"Nothing." Harry told him. "I can feel the air in the Daedalus but then an absolute nothingness in every direction and it never changes. I wake up after a nightmare and I feel like I'm in a coffin buried under tons of dirt with no way out."

"Right." John stood up abruptly. "You're not having any more coffee. It's three am and you need sleep. You're taking circuits in five hours and you need at least a couple of hours sleep."

"John, if I sleep I'll have another nightmare of being locked in a little cupboard under the stairs for days again." Harry told him weakly.

"And if you do I'll wake you up." John told him simply and Harry watched as his hand reached out only to fall back when he realised he'd been about to grab Harry's hand to pull him out. Even though the Daedalus was rather empty this time of the day it didn't mean they could be cavalier with their relationship.

Harry stood up. "We can't do something like that, John. We'll be caught."

"I'll only let you sleep a couple of hours. You'll be up long before anyone else and even if you're seen leaving my rooms we can just say we were both up and were going over plans for our arrival in Atlantis." John told him. "We spent enough time working like that in Atlantis and everyone already knows we're good friends."

Harry sighed but he knew he'd given in as soon as John had offered but that didn't mean he wanted John to feel like he had to help. "You don't have to you know."

"Don't start that, Harry." John told him simply. "Come on."

Harry walked with John through a couple of corridors and John unlocked his cabin and locked it securely behind them. As senior officers of the expedition both Harry and John had office/sitting rooms that led to their bedrooms and because of their jobs they had a lot of classified reports in their cabins so their doors were securely locked and other than themselves only the Captain's passcode could unlock them.

John pushed Harry towards the bedroom and Harry sighed and went through. John, like everyone else on the ship, only had a single bed but both he and John were trim and while they didn't have small frames they weren't going to be that crowded on the bed, especially since they'd be lying close together. John's light shut off in the other room and Harry pulled his shirt over his head and begun unbuttoning his combat trousers just as John surprised him and pulled him back against his chest, wrapping his arms around his body and folding them across his chest. John nuzzled the back of his neck.

"You don't every have to worry about telling me about this sort of thing." John told him. "I can see you're badly hurt and not only about this. I saw you after what happened in Brazil, the way you were was horrible and that was before I knew who it was we tried to save. You don't deserve any of the things that have happened to you and if I get anything from you it's your undefeatable strength. I'm going to rely on that because I know it will never fail me."

Harry sighed and turned in John's arms and quickly pulled John's shirt over his head. Harry imagined that if they got a chance like this, normally they'd use it for something more active than sleeping but Harry was just too tired and the mere thought of being able to simply curl up with John was dragging him further and further down and before he knew it John was guiding him down into his bed, naked, and sliding in next to him. The light died leaving them in complete darkness and Harry rolled over onto his left side and put his head on John's chest and merely breathed in the air around his lover as they wrapped their arms around each other.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A week later**

"_Major Potter, Colonel Caldwell requests that you meet him immediately. 3 deck, starboard side." _Harry confirmed he'd go before hanging up the phone in his cabin and after putting his radio on and pulling a t-shirt over his head he made his way out into the corridor. He hadn't been able to sleep again and he knew that if it wasn't for the odd night of peace when he snuck into John's cabin down the corridor from his own he'd be showing the signs of lack of sleep. Elizabeth had still noticed his lack of sleep and so had Iain, Claire and Alex but they were all smart enough not to comment on it.

It didn't take long for him to reach his destination and he found a few dozen people in the area including John, Elizabeth and Rodney as well as Colonel Caldwell. "Colonel, I got a message you wanted to see me."

"As a senior member of the expedition and responsible for members of our crew I believe you should be kept informed." Caldwell told him and Harry saw the seriousness of the situation in his eyes.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Doctor Monroe was killed." Elizabeth told him. "It seems that there was a power surge and while trying to get out of the compartment he was killed."

Harry finally looked inside the compartment seeing the body bag and techs running over the system. "Definitely an accident?" Harry asked.

"It seems that way." John told him

"I still think we should drop out of Hyperspace and run a full diagnostic." Rodney said and clearly this was an old argument.

"Doctor Mckay..." Caldwell sighed but simply trailed off as Rodney huffed in annoyance.

"As much as I know you are normally right, Rodney." Harry placated. "I do agree with the Colonel. To drop out now, in the Pegasus Galaxy, far from help is not a brilliant idea. Unless you think this might happen with immediate effect it would be better to wait until we are in a safe place."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later that day**

Harry was sitting down with the seven senior officers of the three Flights in the planning room going over strategies when they all felt the familiar surge that told them that they'd fallen out of Hyperspace though it wasn't clear if it was on purpose or not. Harry knew better than to be arrogant and ask for a report knowing that if they'd had to drop out for some kind of emergency they'd need the radio frequencies clear of interruptions.

The meeting fell into quiet for a time before Harry nodded. He felt much better now that he could feel the vastness of space all around him and part of him felt like running to John and kissing him, he was that pleased to be out of Hyperspace after such a long time. The others had turned to him with his nod. "We'd better end that for today then. We should be on deploy, alert and standby with such a exit so that might come at any moment. Viper is on deploy, Cobra on alert and Adder on standby. Make sure your birds are ready to fly. Captain Bennett, call Viper flight and start suiting up while I go to get a report." Harry looked at everyone. "Go." He almost chuckled and they cleared the room.

Harry was on his way up to the bridge when the ship's tannoy system came to life. "X-304s go to DAS." It was Major Fennel's voice, the ship's main pilot. DAS was what they'd come up with, the Deploy, Alert, Standby system for the three flights so that whenever they fell out of hyperspace the X-304s would go to DAS, one flight would deploy and take station around the ship in case of attack. Another flight would go to alert, get ready and be in or by their aircraft ready to go or relieve the deployed flight after six hours. The last team, on standby would go to alert as soon as the alert flight was deployed.

"Command, Major Potter. Viper Flight suiting up now." Harry announced before turning and starting to run, something that wasn't done on aircraft carriers because of the small corridors but that didn't count up here when in an emergency. People dodged out of the way and he was in the changing room for Viper flight just as Iain, Claire and Alex were starting to get changed. There was no wasted time and no shyness with Claire in the room and in two minutes they were heading out together fully kitted out and across the hall and through into the Hanger bay and thirty seconds later Harry was requesting clearance to launch and powering up his Viper. Two minutes and fifty seconds after their order to go to DAS, Viper Flight was exiting the Daedalus and banking hard around and taking station.

"Daedalus this is Viper One." Harry started. "Viper Flight is on Deploy. Cobra Flight due to relieve in six hours time."

"_Roger, Viper-One."_ It was Caldwell's voice. _"Stand by and I'll be back with you with an update on what is happening."_

"Roger, Command." Harry accepted his order and focused back on his own Flight link. "Viper two and four, take outstation. One and three will take close in. Until we know what is happening just keep your eyes out, sensors and the mark one eyeball."

"_Roger One, two and four breaking left."_ Iain responded and Harry glanced to his left to see both Vipers bank sharply to the left, the motion in space was far more dramatic than in atmosphere and one second they were with them and the next a dozen lengths away and disappearing fast. Viper were the fastest form of physical transport currently available to Earth and in space that didn't change. They didn't pick up speed as fast as the F-302s and their older cousins were ridiculously agile in space but the X-304s had a punch to them that could see them overtaking anything out there.

Harry banked to the right and Claire followed him and fell into station off his right wing at about three times the distance as normal which was a good idea in space because these planes reacted very fast and if Harry banked right she'd have to react fast to keep inside of him. They fell to looping the Daedalus' stationary position in an elliptical pattern that changed angle on every loop to a completely random one out of Harry's head while Iain and Alex circled the Daedalus in a similar pattern at hundreds of times the distance. Harry and Claire were only a mile outside of the shields if they were raised but Iain and Alex were over four hundred miles away.

"_Viper-one, this is Caldwell."_

"Go ahead, Daedalus command." Harry told him simply but so that it was clear he was talking to Caldwell rather than Elizabeth who was Harry's actual Command.

"_Doctor McKay has made a few interesting discoveries about the death of Doctor Monroe that warranted us dropping back into normal space. It seems highly likely that his death was not an accident."_ Caldwell told him. _"Until we have the situation dealt with we'll remain here with DAS in effect."_

"Understood, Daedalus Command." Harry confirmed. "We'll maintain close and long range patrols. If you're radar picks up anything we'll check it out for you."

"_We'll do that, Viper-one. Daedalus out."_ Caldwell told him and Harry banked sharply, changing his patrol at a random point and Claire, listening to the previous conversation almost missed it. She grumbled at him over the closed link and he heard Iain laughing.

"Stay alert guys." Harry told his Flight. "There are five hundred people on that ship that are relying on us to take the initial reaction. It'll take time for them to recognise a threat and raise shields and more time again to manoeuvre and power weapons. We're their instant response and let's not forget that."

"_Roger one."_ Iain told him. _"I am confirming that all our long range scans are returning nothing but distant planets and a few rocks. No power signatures."_

Harry accepted that and selected another frequency as talk. The all X-304 link. "Cobra Flight, are you at Alert?"

"_Confirmed, Viper one." _Knight told him using a portable flight link that he would carry around at all times while at DAS. _"We are currently living it up in the waiting room watching a very bad horror film. Estimated time to launch is one minute."_

Well within the accepted three minutes. Harry spoke again. "Adder flight, what's your plan?"

"_It's late enough that we can get our heads down, Viper one."_ Brokewell told him._ "We'll be up on Alert in time for Cobra Flight to relieve you in six hours time."_

"Alright, Cobra and Adder, take it easy. By the sounds of it this might take a while to resolve." Harry told them and turned the joint link to listen only.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry was taking a slow turn around the stern of the Daedalus almost an hour later and had just finished lining up with the side of the ship with Claire dead ahead of him 'playing' follow the leader when there was a burst of movement from the ship. An ejection of air from just under the upper crest of the ship. It flew out. "Viper three break right and up!" Harry ordered even as he broke sharply right the ejection flew past in front of Claire. For a split second as Harry turned he saw the flailing arms of a person.

"_What the fuck!?"_ Claire gasped having obviously seen it as well. She automatically fell in on Harry's right wing as Harry slowly brought them back to point at the ship before Harry's Viper tracked the person and Harry altered his trajectory to intercept at a distance. There was nothing that Harry could do.

"Daedalus, this is Viper-one. You have an airlock blow out. Person in the black. I repeat person in the black!" Harry knew he sounded rather shocked but then again who wouldn't after having a person thrown at him. When he didn't instantly get an answer he called them again. "Daedalus, what is happening in there?"

"_Viper-one, wait out."_ It was Major Fennel. Harry sighed and gritted his teeth. Rightfully they had more important things to worry about if their airlocks were blasting people out into space and there was nothing they could do about the person already out in space. His body would have already torn itself apart internally. Harry slowed his Viper and settled it loosely about twenty metres away from the person at matching velocities.

"Daedalus, this is Viper-one. For information body is recognisable as Doctor Linstrum, Atlantis expedition." Harry said almost quietly.

"_Thank-you, Viper-one."_ Major Fennel told him.

Harry silenced his radio and focused instead on his Flight link. "Two and four, close on one and three. Monitoring?"

"_Roger one."_ Iain told him sounding less than happy. _"We have been monitoring."_

Harry switched to the tri-flight link. "Cobra Flight, this is Viper-one, have someone standby to retrieve loose cargo from space once I give permission."

"_Viper one, this is Cobra-one. We copy your order, two is moving to craft now. Once you get permission from Daedalus Command he'll launch and collect precious cargo."_ The tone of Knight's voice told Harry that the man was well aware of what had happened five minutes ago. Since Harry didn't know what was happening in there all he could do was affect things he knew about. They had a body slowly moving away from the Daedalus and Doctor Linstrum's family would probably want something to bury.

"_Viper-one, this is Daedalus, Colonel Caldwell for you."_ Major Fennel announced to him and a moment later Caldwell came over the radio, clearly using a handset patched into the ship's system.

"_Viper-one, what's the situation out there?"_ Caldwell asked.

"Radar and sensors clear." Harry said simply. "Three and One were patrolling close down the starboard side when airlock ejected Doctor Linstrum. We are now keeping station off of him. Cobra-two is prepped to collect and return to ship."

"_Give Cobra-two the go ahead."_ Caldwell told him. _"Let's get him back inside. Call me back once you have."_

"Understood, Daedalus Command." Harry told him before switching back to the tri-flight link. "Cobra-two, you have a go for launch, request clearance from the bridge and then launch. Vector in on my position."

"_Copy that, Viper-one."_ Knight's second in command, another Royal Naval pilot confirmed.

Harry turned back to calling Caldwell even as Iain took station about twenty metres ahead of Harry while Alex fell in between Harry and Claire and directly behind Doctor Linstrum. It was basically as respectful as they could make it. "Daedalus Command, this is Viper-one. Cobra-two is launching as soon as cleared by the bridge." Harry told him.

"_Understood, Viper-one."_ Caldwell responded. _"It's seems that we definitely have a saboteur onboard. Doctor McKay and Doctor Linstrum were working in the distribution centre when Doctor Linstrum found something. He was about to tell Doctor McKay when there was a coolant leak. Doctor McKay retreated to the corridor but Doctor Linstrum was forced into the airlock."_ There was a horrible pause there. _"Neither he nor Doctor McKay were able to override the ejection sequence in time."_

Harry glanced out of the side of his cockpit as a fifth X-304 approached and angled up over the top of them and slowly matched the speed of the body perfectly before slowly lowering towards him, as he approached to within only a foot he activated their heavy magnetic docking clamp in the hopes that Doctor Linstrum was wearing something made of metal. The docking clamp was designed so that the X-304s could clamp on to a metal ship and they were powerful. This was another use that they had been slated for, collecting cargo for emergencies. As Harry watched, ignoring Caldwell for a moment, Linstrum moved and hit the bottom of Cobra-two.

Harry spoke so that his words were sent through the tri-link and to the Daedalus. "Cobra-two, you have your cargo. Return to the Daedalus. Viper-two, escort." Basically follow in case the docking clamp released the body. He cut the tri-flight link and spoke only to Caldwell. "Daedalus Command, that's Cobra-two and Viper-two inbound with precious cargo, port hangar."

"_Thank you, Viper-one."_ Caldwell told him. _"Continue DAS as normal, we'll keep you informed of developments."_

"Understood, Daedalus Command. Viper Flight returning to normal patrols." Harry cut the connection before sighing.

"_Major?"_ Claire spoke up as Harry, Claire and Alex formed up in line abreast to await Iain's return._ "That has to be amongst the most horrible sights I've ever seen."_

"Hold it together, three." Harry told her reassuringly. Iain, Claire and Alex were all in the same boat such as they didn't really get the side of war that Harry was so well versed in and whenever something happened that reminded them of the horrors of war they turned to Harry knowing exactly what his past missions had involved.

Iain returned to them as soon as Cobra-two was safely inside the Daedalus again with the body and for a while the four circled the stationary ship together until Harry sent Claire and Alex off together. Normally he'd send Iain with one of them and keep the other with him so that Iain could make the hard decisions but eventually they'd have to learn what those sort of decisions would involve and he had faith in them and it wasn't like he was sending them out of contact range. At full speed they could get to Iain and Harry, or vice versa, in about twenty seconds.

Iain and Harry took to floating ahead of the Daedalus at low power and just had their sensors and radars running as lookout but it wasn't until another hour that Doctor McKay called them from the Daedalus. _"Major Potter?"_

"Yes, Rodney." Harry rolled his eyes ignoring the fact there was no military formality to the conversation and really no point trying to convince him otherwise.

"_We've found out what's doing this." _Rodney told him. _"A Wraith computer virus. An AI."_

"Alright, Rodney, is there something we can help you with?" Harry asked.

"_No, Major. Just keeping you informed."_

"Thank you, Rodney, Viper-one..." Harry trailed off as his automated scanners picked up an emergency distress beacon with the Daedalus' IFF. Their automated distress beacon. "Daedalus, you are broadcasting a distress beacon on all channels!"

He was met by silence for a moment before a worried voice came over to him though it was distorted which confused Harry. His Viper was too advanced to have something like static at this range. _"Viper-one, take out..." _It cut off. _"I say again... transmitter array."_

It was John's voice this time but Harry couldn't make anything of the words. "Viper Flight, compile transmission and send to me." If any of the others had gotten other words the Vipers could put the transmission together and play them over each other. He didn't get an answer.

"Daedalus, say again your last." Harry ordered.

"_Viper one, I say again, take out our transmitter array."_ This time Harry got the whole signal and Harry moved to power up the Viper when everything shut down. His console went completely dark and the dull hum of his engines faded completely. Harry swore and looked up through his cockpit to see the lights on Iain's Viper go out as well.

"Daedalus, this is Viper-one. Respond." Harry ordered but got nothing in return so switched to the backup transmitter. "Daedalus and Viper Flight, this is Viper One, I have complete computer and power failure. I have zero manoeuvring capability. Received orders from Daedalus but have no available means to comply."

"_Viper-one, this is Daedalus. Colonel Sheppard is taking an F-302." _Caldwell told him. _"What's happening?"_

"I have nothing." Harry told him. "Communication was disrupted and then I lost everything. Now on emergency transmitter."

"_Daedalus and Viper-one, this is Viper two. I have the same sit rep as Viper-one."_ Iain told him.

"_Viper-one this is three, sitrep same."_

"_This is Viper-four. I'm afraid the same but I know that whatever it was it came through the Flight link, from one."_

Harry sighed. "Sorry, Colonel, we can't help right now." Harry said as he watched an F-302 launch from the port hangar and spin around rapidly. He watched as it fired its rail guns and sliced through the transmitter array before angling away to take a slow turn back but it was then that Harry noticed it. The F-302 wasn't turning again, only speeding up. He couldn't hear anything going on between the Daedalus and the F-302.

"_Viper-one. Sheppard's F-302 isn't responding to his commands, we're about to beam him onboard. I suggest we do the same for you."_ Caldwell said. _"Wait one."_

Harry frowned wondering why there was a delay in rescuing them. Normally he'd want to stay and fix his Viper but with the current situation it was risky. Caldwell came back. _"We can't lock onto your radio signal with only the emergency." _Caldwell sounded sorry.

"Don't worry, Colonel. We're not going anywhere." Harry told him. "Do you have a plan to get rid of the virus?"

"_We're going to do a reboot of the system."_

"Understood, Daedalus." Harry nodded before biting his lip. "We'll start reboots and try to rid ourselves of the virus but it'll take time. It shouldn't be able to spread back to the Daedalus without bringing back on the transmitters on our ships so we'll knock out the breakers for them from our cockpits. We'll let you know when we're clean."

"_Understood, Viper-one."_ Caldwell told him.

Harry turned his attention on his own Flight and the danger they were in. Their suits would keep them warm and alive for a few hours and their oxygen would last a few hours as well without being able to recycle and scrub it. Harry's concern was clearing all of the computer cores to each of the ships. "How is everyone doing?" Harry asked.

"_All good." _Alex told him. _"I always wanted to drift around in space in a metal box."_

"_All my emergency systems are working properly." _Claire told him.

"_Sorry, Harry."_ Iain sighed. _"I hate to be the bearer of bad knew but when the virus took the ship it screwed with the air release system, all of the vents are shut and my air's going to get really thin in here really soon."_

"_Emergency supply?"_ Claire asked in concern.

"Easy enough to open with power but it'll take some scrambling around to do it otherwise." Harry said keeping his voice level, much as he would when talking about a mission that was going wrong. "Iain, get out of that seat and get to those bottles, if you can't take your sidearm and put a hole in one of the vents. Just be careful."

"_That's not on my Christmas list, Harry." _Iain told him worriedly. Firing off a bullet while inside a small cockpit in space wasn't a nice idea to contemplate. If he missed or the bullet ricocheted it could shatter his cockpit, bullet proof or not, and expose him to space.

"Iain, you've got two minutes to get to that emergency supply bottle, if you can't in two minutes you need to shoot one of those vents to get air. You'll suffocate if you don't." Harry told him nervously looking up at Iain's Viper. He could just about see movement inside the cockpit but it was dark.

"_One, this is three, the Daedalus just went completely lights out."_ Claire told him and Harry glanced at it.

"They're rebooting." Harry said sharply knowing they wouldn't have their systems up in time to help Iain. Harry covered his microphone so that Iain wouldn't hear his words. "Come on Iain, come on!"

He regretted that even with his powers there was nothing he could do. He couldn't produce more air for him and he couldn't filter it for him if there simply wasn't enough air there. He could possibly give him a few extra seconds but that was it. The two minutes dragged out and Harry watched it on his clock but he'd been optimistic with the timings and Iain was really going to cut it fine.

"Iain, can you get it?" Harry asked.

"_It's just out of reach. I..."_ Iain was panting and Harry knew he was already running low of cockpit air.

"Iain, shoot the vent." Harry ordered.

"_Harry, that's insane."_ Iain gasped out and Harry couldn't see any movement in his cockpit.

"Iain, get your gun and shoot the damned vent." Harry snapped. "Do it!"

The Daedalus powered up with a flash of light that shone on Iain's canopy but Harry knew that Iain would be dead long before they could get all their systems back on. _"Viper one, this is..."_

"Flash. Daedalus silence." Harry cut over Caldwell. "Iain, shoot the fucking vent!" Harry swore at him. "Now, Iain!"

Harry saw a flash and that was the only sign that Harry got that Iain had done it, urged on by Harry's shouted orders. For a moment Harry thought it would end with the cockpit shattering but as the seconds stretched on it was clear it hadn't ricocheted but Iain wasn't talking to him.

"Iain, answer me." Harry ordered.

"_The bullet's in the vent casing, I'm prying at it."_ Iain told him and over the radio there was a pop sound and a loud hiss. He heard Iain take a deep breath. _"I've got air."_ Iain told him and Harry breathed out in relief. _"Oh crap." _Iain spoke again and Harry tensed up.

"Two, explain." Harry ordered remembering a little protocol.

"_Wait one." _Iain told him and Harry could see movement in his cockpit again.

"_Viper one, this is Daedalus, what happened?"_ Caldwell asked him.

"When two lost his power it cut off his air. He couldn't reach the emergency supply so he had to shoot one of the vents that closed on him." Harry told him simply just as a flash of light announced that the Daedalus was moving.

"_We'll get into position to scoop you up."_ Caldwell told him. _"Start on your reboots."_

"Understood Daedalus." Harry confirmed.

"_One, this is two. I've got another problem. My recirculation system burst with the high pressure on the vents. It's not starting again on manual, I can't get more air, only what built up in the storage and ducts. Maybe thirty minutes, maybe not."_ Iain told him and Harry covered his microphone so he could swear without them hearing.

"It's alright, two. Start rebooting your system and then the Daedalus can pick..." Harry trailed off as he saw the Daedalus take a sharp turn and start heading away from them. "Daedalus, what's happening?" Harry asked.

"_Viper-one, we've lost control of navigation and sublight."_ Caldwell told him. _"We're heading for the sun. Get rebooted as fast as you can."_

"Understood." Harry paused thinking of their own situation. "Daedalus, the virus survived somewhere in there. Check the F-302 and other X-304s. Pull everything."

"_You're Flights are starting on the port hangar. Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay are heading for the starboard hangar now."_ Caldwell told him.

Harry focused back on their own problem leaving the Daedalus to sort itself out. "Two, three and four, you better be rebooting now."

"_On it, one."_ Claire announced.

"Two?" Harry prompted worried for his friend.

"_It's going to start getting really shallow in here but I can do it."_ Iain told him.

Harry threw off his harness and flipped around on his seat to get to the core computer behind his seat. There were fifteen modules to get out, reset, get back in and then once they were all reset, reboot the system and power it up. "Three and four, if one of you get back up and running, get to two and connect an air hose for him."

"_Understood."_ Alex told him but he was clearly busy and so was Harry.

Harry tried to keep an eye out on what was happening to the Daedalus but he quickly lost sight of the ship amongst the brilliance of the sun and had to focus back on his own task. It took him ten minutes before he was sitting back in his seat and powering up the modules on backup power and rebooting the entire system, wiping it completely clean and loading it with the backups stored deep within the ship.

"_One, this is four." _Alex announced. _"I'm up and running, system coming online now. There's no sign of the virus. I'm plotting a course for two."_

Harry looked up and saw a fast moving star heading towards them but put that aside while he finalised his own reboot and hit the start up for his ion core which shuddered into life with an internally audible hum that Harry welcomed immensely. He looked over and Alex was settling down under Iain and connecting a hard hose designed for just this sort of thing.

"_Confirmed, four. I have fresh air."_ Iain said and Harry audibly sighed out in relief before turning to his sensors to look for the Daedalus. It was still heading out towards the sun followed by a single F-302.

"Three, are you up and running?" Harry asked.

"_Coming online now."_ Claire announced.

"Two?" Harry prompted.

"_It's going to take a little longer. I think it froze a couple of my systems."_ Iain told him. _"I need five more minutes."_

"Understood. Four, stay with two. Three, set course for the Daedalus, full power. I'll meet you. We've got some work to do." Harry ordered as he spun his Viper to face the sun and threw the engines up shooting away from Iain and Alex and quickly accelerating. He angled slightly and Claire slid up to his left wing.

It took them ten minutes to start closing the distance and as they did Harry's Viper reported a second F-302 launching from the Daedalus. _"One, the first F-302 has the identification codes of the one that Colonel Sheppard was beamed out of earlier."_ Claire told him and Harry confirmed it with a glance at his own screen.

"Don't send an external signal." Harry ordered. "Cut all external flight communications channels and block all incoming signals."

"_Confirmed, we are External Flight dead."_ Claire told him. It was just in case the Virus tried to jump back to them. They were now completely isolated. _"Two life signs in the front F-302."_ Claire reported to him as they closed but Harry had already seen that and even as the human F-302 bled off speed in a jerking movement that turned the tables he knew they had to lend a hand. The two F-302s were getting far too close to the sun's radiation. Harry's Viper was already warning him even as they shot past the Daedalus. Harry didn't know whether the Daedalus tried to communicate or not since he'd blocked them as well.

"If you get a clear shot at the unmanned F-302 take it." Harry ordered even as his own Viper quickly got a lock but Harry had to bank hard to the right to open up the angle so that his missile would fly clear of the human occupied F-302. He started working hard on reprogramming the missile to fly a detoured course under the closer F-302 and fired as soon as he could. Claire was hard banking in the opposite direction but she couldn't reprogram and fly at the same time like Harry could and she still didn't have a clear angle. She fired her own missile ten seconds after Harry had just in case Harry's missed.

Harry's missile shot right around to the right, angling further and further out until it reached a point forty-five degrees off of the target's right beam and then turned in slightly and shot in. It slammed into the lead F-302 out of nowhere and the F-302 with the two humans inside pulled up sharply rather than make the common mistake of banking right or left. Claire's missile struck the fireball six seconds later having taken a more direct route and Harry banked inward sharply and he and Claire crossed each other where the explosion had originated before turning back towards the Daedalus which was dead in space again.

They stayed wing to wing as the other F-302 settled down on Harry's wing tip and Harry looked to see two people waving at him, neither with proper gear on. Harry waved back at them but didn't reinitiate communications just in case. The Daedalus powered up and almost instantly turned sharply and headed straight back along the course they'd been on and Harry finally opened his communications up again after telling Claire to do the same thing.

He called Iain first though and after finding out he was running again if not reliant on Alex's air he selected the main frequency. "Daedalus, this is Viper-one. Happy to report all Viper's running. Emergency scoop required of Viper two and assisting Viper four."

"_Viper-one, good to hear your voice."_ John told him and Harry heard the truth in those exact words. _"Nice timing. I couldn't get a lock in all the radiation."_

"_Viper one, we have Viper two and three on our sensors, what is the problem?"_ Caldwell asked.

"Viper-two suffered damage to his air recirculation when the virus swamped our systems. He had to shoot out a vent to get air but only got what was built up in the ducting." Harry told him. "Four has rigged a rescue airline but they'll need to remain attached until two can get into the Daedalus. They'll need a zero-g entry."

"_Understood."_ Caldwell told him. _"We're rigging for an emergency zero-g landing on the starboard hangar. Land in the port hangar as soon as they are safely inside."_

"Understood, Daedalus Command." Harry told him. "Glad to see you're all safe."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Four days later; Over Atlantis**

As soon as the Daedalus fell out of Hyperspace they got clearance to launch and both Viper and Cobra flights launched from the starboard hangar and shot away from the ship, planning to do a circuit of the planet to run their engines for a while before they landed on the planet and also to work Iain's system for a while. They practiced a few complicated manoeuvres on the ten minute round trip before seeing the Daedalus hovering in orbit once again. They did a flyby before requesting permission from Atlantis to land on the North Pier where there was a nice cargo hold perfect for the eight X-304s with large doors leading out to a good sized vertical landing area.

Harry took them down and the eight ships flew over the Athosian settlement on the mainland probably frightening them but he detected radio traffic on the surface so he knew there were people down there that could tell the Athosians who they were. Harry rolled his ship over the settlement and the other seven quickly copied him before Harry told Knight to take his ships around to a mile off his left wing.

"Atlantis, we're coming in for landing. Viper first and then Cobra. Priority observation on Viper-two as he comes in. Red light if the flight crew see anything out of the normal." Harry told Atlantis.

"_Understood, Viper-one."_ It was Grodin. _"The guys are ready. Welcome back, Major Potter."_

Harry allowed himself a smile, feeling like he was returning home. Atlantis appeared over the horizon with its tall towers and beautiful architecture and as they approached he heard Claire whistle in appreciation. "Welcome to Atlantis, guys." Harry told them on the flight link.

"_It's beautiful."_ Claire told him. Harry turned sharply just before they could have entered through the buildings and instead skimmed around the floating city doing a complete lap so that the people in the city could see them before he angled for the north pier.

"Two, break off and set down. We'll hover off of the pier to monitor." They'd done a lot of work on the Viper but they didn't have complete confidence in it just yet. Iain detached from the formation and dipped down passing around the edge of the pier and lining up on the pier ready to land. A team appeared out of the large hangar and out from underneath a metal canopy that was of human design that they'd put up for shelter out on the pier. Harry, Alex and Claire settled down over the water just off of the pier letting Iain slowly lower down to the pier as the man with the batons on the surface waved him down. He landed without trouble and his struts took the weight slowly until he powered down.

The man on the ground signalled to Harry, Claire and Alex with a particular signal which opened the pier up to them before his team backed away under the shelter. Harry moved forwards to hover on Iain's right while Claire and Alex moved off to land on his left and slowly the three settled down to land. They were quite close to the buildings and there was enough room for Cobra flight to land behind them and still be safely on the ground.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**An hour later**

Harry walked out of his room after showering and changing into a uniform that had been left behind when they shipped him back through the Stargate and he walked the short distance towards the control room where he knew most of the supplies were still being beamed down and cleared away by the expedition. As soon as he walked in the door to the gate room somebody spotted him, one of the original expedition members. They grinned and quickly people began to notice and before he realised what was going to happen everyone that he hadn't seen since before the Wraith attack began cheering for him and heading towards him. Thanking him and shaking his hand. He had barely thought of the attack since it had happened but he realised that these people had really regretted what had happened to him. Especially the scientists who had looked to him for almost six months to protect them and finally they'd realised how far Harry would go to do that.

He finally got free and headed up and into the control room where he spotted Teyla who moved towards him before Harry could take in anyone else. "Major Potter." She smiled brightly. "Harry." She continued. "It's great to see you back here. Everyone was very worried about you after you were sent back to Earth. There were some among us that feared you would not return and my people have been looking forward to you visiting ever since we received word of your recovery."

Harry gave her a small smile and accepted her grip on his wrist with one of his own. "It's great to be back home." Harry told her with a sincere nod of his head. "And you can tell Halling and Jinto that I've brought some proper hunting gear and I look forward to showing them how to use it."

She laughed and Harry finally turned to look at John, Elizabeth and Major Lorne, John's new second in command. A Marine who had a knack of gaining the confidence of his men. He was level headed, didn't freeze up when things went bad and was good at getting his men out of sticky situations alive. Just the sort of person they needed out here where any mission could go wrong and it could go wrong in a place you didn't understand or know your way around.

"Colonel Sheppard, Elizabeth, I trust the short way down wasn't boring?" Harry asked with a small smirk that surprised Lorne who knew Harry from years ago and knew him as a hard man, easy to get on the good side of but just as easy to get on the bad side of.

"At least we were down in time to see your landing." John told him. "It makes me wish I'd gone for fixed wing and not rotary."

"You said it, you can't take it back." Harry chuckled. "Peter, make sure that's saved somewhere." Harry turned to Major Lorne and offered his hand. "Major Lorne, it's a pleasure to work with you again."

"And you too, Major." Lorne nodded. "It has been a few years."

"You know each other then?" Elizabeth asked. "I know you suggested him, Harry, but I didn't realise you'd met."

"When I was stationed in Columbia for a time as Black Ops I occasionally got placed with Marine teams for cover and for operations." Harry explained. "Major Lorne was stationed there at around the same time. As a Lieutenant I was under his command a few times."

"Though I remember being told not to piss you off by my own General." Lorne laughed. "I think his words were, order him to do something he doesn't like only if you don't like your balls attached."

Harry laughed and so did John and Elizabeth which reminded Lorne of her presence. "Sorry, Ma'am."

"Quite alright, Major." She nodded.

"It'll be an experience working as your equal this time, Major Potter." Lorne told him. "And you know some of the men that I picked and they're eager to see you at work again. They were a little disappointed to find out your main role is aircraft but I think we can cope with that."

Harry nodded and turned to John. "How about we go rescue our gear?" He offered.

"How much gear did you bring?" John asked as they moved away, ignoring Elizabeth and Teyla's laughing.

"A lot." Harry told him. "You'll like most of it I think."

"After you then, Major." John laughed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two hours later**

He and John spent almost an hour moving their personal belongings to their rooms and also sorting through the equipment for things that were meant for their rooms like radio chargers, personal weapons and so on and they found themselves in Harry's room late in the afternoon on Atlantis time which wasn't too bad to adjust to since the Daedalus had been shifting clocks all throughout the three week journey in order for everyone to adapt, just like ships did at sea on Earth.

"What the hell are these?" John asked with a faked grunt of effort as he put two large black plastic boxes on top of the table in Harry's room. Out of the two of them Harry definitely had more suspicious black boxes and John had more personal effects, even a guitar which amused Harry greatly. The two boxes were the same colour and material but one was long and thin while the other was more rectangular.

"Have a look if you want." Harry offered even as he plugged in his radio charger and glanced around for the next box.

"Wow, this is cool." John whistled eyeing the contents of the first box, the long thin one. "This a reflex bow?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "It's good for hunting. It's top of the range when it comes to traditional designs."

"It looks nothing like the Athosians' bows." John pointed out.

"I thought they'd like to try it and it's rare that I get to use it properly on Earth. I just don't like hunting for sport and there's only so much time I can give to target practice with that on a range." Harry explained.

"What about this other one?" John asked as he closed the box on the reflex bow which was stowed in its separate pieces and securely padded. John swapped the boxes over and opened the more rectangular one. "Now this I like." He whistled. "A compound right?"

"That one's got a power range of between twenty and thirty thousand newtons and I've fired from that at near on three hundred and fifty kilometres an hour." Harry told him. "And I've got arrows in there that'll punch through bullet proof glass at a range of nearly three hundred metres."

"Bullet proof glass?" John raised an eyebrow and Harry knew what he wanted to know.

"Once." Harry told him. "I assassinated a Somali Warlord in his jeep. I had to use that because the glass would protect him from a long range sniper shot and I had to be closer and that's quieter than a sniper rifle and a hell of lot lighter."

"Cool." John nodded before shutting the box. "Can you show me how to shoot these?"

"You can come with me on one of the survival trips we have scheduled." Harry promised before giving up on the boxes and turning to look at John's back as he lifted a box up onto Harry's bed. The door was locked and everyone of importance knew that John and Harry were getting settled in and they knew that John was helping Harry with his stuff. It wouldn't matter if people noticed that the two disappeared into Harry's room for an hour or so without being heard from.

"John, can you come here a minute please?" Harry asked. John turned to look at him but moved over wondering what Harry could need help with.

"What's the matter?" John asked with a curious look but before he could react Harry moved forwards, caught the back of his neck with his right hand and pulled John towards him with his left hand on his hip and kissed him deeply, pushing his tongue into John's mouth as soon as John got over his shock and returned the kiss.

**(A/N; This gets a little high on the rating scheme of things so skip if you don't want to read.)**

John's hands copied Harry's and they grinded their hips together and Harry could feel John's arousal against his own within a matter of seconds but they didn't pull away until almost three minutes later. John chuckled and glanced at the door and Harry laughed. "You think to check that _now_?" Harry asked before dropping his right hand down to John's other hip and pulling him closer, grinding their hardened cocks together once more. John groaned and turned back to him and leaned his head to the side to kiss the side of Harry's neck before he bit down just under the collar. He didn't bite hard until he had worked Harry's shirt down away from his neck but then bit down hard where it wouldn't show later on.

Harry groaned at the sensation and moved his hands between them and quickly undid John's combat trousers and unzipped them and pushed down his boxers, uncaring about how fast he was taking this. John paused in his biting long enough to pull Harry's shirt over his head before doing the same with his own just as Harry pulled his cock free and fisted it making John groan loudly. Harry tilted his head to the side to give John better access to his shoulder even as he used his left hand to undo his own combats and pulled his own cock out and before John realised what he was doing he put their cocks together and gripped them tightly, moving his left hand around to John's arse, under his combats, to pull their hips together.

John began gyrating against him even as Harry starting sliding his hand up and down their cocks, letting the sensation flow through them, letting the heat of their chests spread between them as Harry bent down and nibbled at John's exposed neck feeling John's moist breath against his shoulder. Feeling John shivering with pleasure as his arse clenched as he fucked Harry's hand as if he was helping Harry to double penetrate his fist.

John came first about five minutes later and Harry felt his cock jerk in his hand a moment before John bit down on his skin, drawing blood. Hot cum sprayed Harry's hand, stomach and chest but Harry didn't slow down even once he started using John's cum to lubricate his own cock, sliding John's cock up and down his own, stretching out John's orgasm even as John laid his face into the side of Harry's neck, catching his breath. Harry felt himself tighten up as he climaxed and he let go of John and his own cock as soon as he started and pulled John towards him, pinning them together and letting his cum spread between them.

**(A/N; End of graphic scene.)**

John pulled them back towards the bed and pulled them both down and Harry merely laid directly on top of him for a few minutes as they recovered. "That was aggressive." John told him with a laugh.

"Well, if you've got something else in mind let's hear it." Harry smiled down at him before kissing him deeply.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A week later**

It had been a tough thing settling everyone back into Atlantis especially for John, Harry and Major Lorne who had had to cope with completely rearranging the security that they had, permanently placing patrols on certain key areas, placing better protected defences in case of attack and generally organising the forces they had at their disposal. As senior flight officer of the expedition the day to day security of the city didn't actually fall into his lap but it was well understood that Harry was still an authority to contend with. Major Lorne was a brilliant officer and Harry respected him and enjoyed working with him but Harry had the undying respect of a large number of the expedition's Marines from either the original group or the men that had come through the Stargate to help them against the Wraith under Colonel Everett. On top of that the scientists from the original expedition were quite simply in awe of both him and John so it helped them to see that the Marines were being organised under his watchful eye.

Any lack of faith that the new Marines had in their two air force senior officers quickly evaporated with the tales they were told by their brothers-in-arms, especially the rumours about their Black Ops days and the punch they held restrained until they really needed it. The favourite stories were easily the Genii occupation of the city where Harry and John had single handedly taken out their battalion and then John's and his willingness to sacrifice themselves to protect the city against the Wraith more recently. Harry's ability to create and control a massive storm was also something that the Marines were in awe of and they realised that not only was the senior flight officer a skilled Black Ops specialist but also was powerful with an ability that could wipe out entire invasions of Wraith.

They hadn't been back for long but Harry had a lot of things planned. He'd agreed to take the role of Training Officer for the Expedition and he was responsible for upkeeping the level of training and efficiency that had become expected of the US Marines but also to bring the civilian members of the expedition up to the level where they could survive in dangerous situations which was why, after being back a week, he and twenty of the Marines were deep in the dense forest of the mainland, an area that the Athosians and he had scouted out before. It was too dense for effective hunting or agriculture and was diced up with valleys, mountains and rivers. Perfect for what he had planned.

He'd done a sweep with the Jumper plotting all of the land with the sensors and had had Radek translate that into a useable map, very basic but still enough to navigate through the area with. The same kind of map that a team would be handed on their data boards when going through a gate.

Eighteen of the Marines had split into three squads for this training exercise and their job was to travel from A to B. B was the Athosian settlement but A was three different start points and Harry had added a few different scenarios and obstacles on their three maps so that they had to take different routes and he'd tried to even up the difficulty for each one. They'd also been warned that a 'local' fanatic group were in the area and were hunting them.

That mean that Harry and the two Sergeants with him, Sergeant Markham and Sergeant Cooper, were setting up ambushes for them along the way, using the Jumper to stealthily jump between the groups. The scenario was simple and would be the same one they used later with the scientists. Their Jumper had been shot down on the way back to the gate and their task was to trek it on foot to reach the gate. This time was a trial run but eventually Harry would bring it to teams going through the Stargate and then anyone else in the expedition, always with a Marine in each team, just like the Gate teams were.

Harry was hiding on the top of a small cliff with Markham and Cooper on either side of him and they were watching through sniper scopes as team one, six marines, headed up through a dear trail. They'd soon come to the cliff on that route and would have to follow the track along the base of the cliff unless they decided to scale it which while quicker than walking around meant that they'd be more tired afterwards.

"This should be fun." Harry smirked and wiggled back from the edge, leaving the other two to watch on their fronts. They were perfectly camouflaged where they were. Harry knelt on one knee and picked up his compound bow from the ground behind Markham and checked that it was still set on a low tension and that the sight was correct for the change in tension. Finally he lifted a blunted, rubber tipped arrow and fitted it to the string.

"Scientist on the far left." Markham told him meaning the designated Marine who wore a red armband to denote him as the one the others had to be protecting.

"End game?" Cooper asked referring to the scenario where if they lost the 'scientist' they were out of the game.

"I'm not that mean, Sergeant." Harry chuckled before standing up and taking aim. He was rather exposed and a moment after he took aim the Marine bringing up the rear looked his way. Harry released the arrow with a high pitched snick of sound and the arrow was mid flight before the Marine could yell out for them to get to cover. The arrow flew for a couple of seconds before slamming into the poor 'scientists' left lower leg.

"Ouch, that'll bruise." Markham winced. It wouldn't do much more damage though, the front half of the arrow, though strong enough to maintain shape for flight would have completely shredded on impact, softening the blow before the stronger rubber part would have stopped it completely. Like he said though it'd bruise and by the speed that the Marine hit the deck he knew his leg was numb. One of the other Marine's grabbed him and dragged him into cover behind a rock even as Harry loaded a real arrow while the Marines were still taking cover and he aimed and fired it. It flew hard even at a low tension and slammed two inches deep into a tree right beside the Marine leading them who's rolled behind another of the trees and was trying to get a shot while Harry kept them pinned down.

Harry ducked down as he heard the small pops of the blanks in the guns. They'd all have a couple of magazines of real ammunition just in case but the bullets in the guns were harmless but he played the game and between the four firing at him he was effectively pinned down.

Harry pulled back from the edge, keeping low, as his radio came to life. The Marines on the ground had a single coded radio between them that they could access with the code and transmit or receive in the event of an emergency or Harry could initiate the radio in the same way but apart from that they couldn't hear anything on the normal communications channels.

"Atlantis, this is Major Potter. Go ahead." He responded as soon as he could straighten up and he began walking in the direction of the uncloaked Puddle Jumper as he talked. Markham and Cooper would keep an eye on the Marines until they broke cover and went about strapping up their casualty ready to continue their advance. Harry, Markham and Cooper would then move onto the other teams and cripple their scientists as well to slow the teams down. A three day nature hike wasn't exactly challenging for Marines.

"_Major, we've had a report from the off world team that Rodney McKay has been captured. Lorne was found stunned but he's in good health."_ It was Elizabeth's voice. Harry frowned, John along with Teyla and Rodney and Lorne's team of four Marines had gone through the Stargate to a planet where one of their scientists and his escort had found a dead Wraith, shot with Earth bullets. They'd gone through to search for who they thought must have been Ford. _"To add to the situation Teyla and Colonel Sheppard were captured by someone on the planet. The Colonel is free and is requesting that Carson go through the Gate to carry out removal of a Wraith tracing device."_

"What do you want me to do?" Harry asked.

"_Right now stay put."_ She told him.

"I actually meant between rescuing Rodney or rescuing Teyla." Harry pointed out.

"_I offered." _She told him. _"Colonel Sheppard thinks that he can befriend the guy that has Teyla."_

"And Rodney?" Harry prompted.

"_If it's Ford that has him then I don't believe he is in any danger."_ Elizabeth told him.

"I'd rather go through and find that out for myself." Harry told her.

"_I'm aware of that, Major."_ She pointed out. _"Don't go far from your Jumper. I might have to call you in at short notice to go through the gate."_

Sitting here waiting didn't sit well with him but he couldn't really force his way through the Stargate to go get Rodney. Besides that, John was perfectly capable of rescuing people on his own and he had Lorne's team with him as well and Elizabeth was right, Ford wouldn't hurt Rodney too badly, maybe enough to shut him up but not much worse than that.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That night**

Harry, Markham and Cooper had just finished 'crippling' the other two 'scientists' two hours after the first when Harry had gotten another call from Atlantis telling him that the team had returned to Atlantis with both good and bad news, sans Ford but with the alien on the planet in his place. John had told him that he'd get cleaned up and then come out to help Harry with his exercise that night and bring out some hot food for him and the Sergeants.

Harry and the Sergeants watched as a Jumper de cloaked next to their own. Harry had warned Markham and Cooper where the Jumper was and had turned to look straight at it as he felt the air pushed around it. A few seconds later John exited the back wearing full tactical gear. It was already dark but the backs of the Jumpers were down giving them quite a bit of light. Markham and Cooper sketched salutes out of respect more than need since both John and Harry insisted on nothing of the kind while on operation. It was self preservation as much as anything else. If a sniper or scout was watching their camp then they were already clearly officers, why make themselves into even more obvious targets by having everyone salute them.

"Colonel." Harry nodded in greeting.

John's eyes swept to his right shoulder where his compound bow was snuggly placed in a sheath over his back that allowed him to crawl through jungles with it. It had to be snapped back together properly on its hinges to fire so it wasn't a quick draw type of weapon but the P-90 clipped to his jacket, pistol at his right upper leg and the two Sai that John knew were hidden were very quick weapons to draw. "Major, have you been having fun with that thing?"

"I like this 'thing', Colonel." Harry chuckled.

"He's shot three Marines in the leg with it so far today, Sir." Markham told John with a smirk.

"Well, unfortunately Marines have a tendency to know when they're being watched and I'd rather they had actual bruises than faked ones." Harry shrugged.

"Ouch." Cooper muttered. "Remind me to never volunteer for you during a demonstration."

Markham laughed. "Paul, I hope you realise you just did volunteer." Cooper winced but that just made Harry laugh more.

"Right, well I think the groups have had enough rest this evening. Markham, Cooper, you two go spook teams 2 and 3. The Colonel and I will go spook team one. Watch them until they set up new camps and then report the new positions in before you two head off and find somewhere to cloak and get some rest. Sleep till four then we'll spook them again just before dawn. The Major and I will get some shut eye from dawn." Harry ordered. That way the Marines got enough sleep to keep going but not enough to go easy on them and it also meant that Markham, Cooper, Harry and John could get enough sleep as well. "We'll meet at nine o'clock in the Athosian settlement and take it from there."

"Understood, Sir." Markham nodded and together he and Cooper headed back to the Jumper they'd been using. Harry grabbed his bag from the ground as well as his arrows and put them in the back of John's Jumper before John followed him in. They watched as the other Jumper set off and Harry closed the back door before quickly pecking John on the lips in proper greeting.

John smiled at him before heading to the pilot's seat and cloaking the Jumper and taking off. Harry took off his weapons and all but his normal clothing. He unzipped his vest and jacket and pulled them off and then relaxed in the co-pilots chair in just his boots, combat trousers and plain black t-shirt. He, Markham and Cooper had found a nice lake to bath in earlier in the evening so he was clean at least.

"Team one is about eighteen miles north of here." Harry told him.

"What are we going to do?" John asked with a grin.

"I'm going to sneak in close. If they spot me I bail out and they should move on automatically. If they don't spot me they've have a couple of smoke grenades and flash bangs right in the middle of them." Harry shrugged. "Normal stuff. They'll know they've been spooked and they'll move."

"Want to know what happened then?" John asked.

"Love to." Harry nodded.

"Well, Ford was definitely there. He stunned Lorne and took Rodney hostage. Supposedly he was completely horrible to him but then again it's Rodney so..." John trailed off as Harry laughed. "Meanwhile Teyla and I got ambushed by a Runner, a guy called Ronan Dex."

"And let me guess you buttered him up into letting you help him?" Harry guessed. "Got Carson to come take out his tracking device?"

"Hey you make that sound easy!" John complained. "I convinced him to help us get Ford but it didn't work very well. Wraith Darts showed up and Ford jumped into one of their beams rather than come with us."

Harry straightened up in surprise, any amusement gone. "He..."

John sighed miserably. "I don't know what to think, he can't be that far gone and I won't rest until we get him back and knock some sense into the kid."

"You call him a kid but you realise he's the same age as me and you're fucking me?" Harry asked to try to get the subject off of depressing thoughts.

John rolled his eyes. "He's not like us though, he's naive."

"I suppose." Harry sighed. "So what happened with Ronan?"

"He's recovering in Atlantis." John told him. "He's a brilliant shot and what I saw says he's as good as you with hand to hand."

"So you want to recruit him?"

"What's wrong with that?" John frowned.

Harry laughed. "There's nothing wrong with that, John."

They stopped near to the small camp that the Marines had put up and within ten minutes Harry had snuck right up to the edge and lobbed six small flashers into the middle followed by a couple of non-toxic smoke grenades to make evacuating difficult. He'd only gotten in so close because the Marine sentry had been looking in the other direction because of a rogue deer but that was reality for you.

Harry was back onboard the Jumper before the group had fully come to terms with the fact they had to lug Corporal Keller for ten miles in the middle of a pitch black forest with only as much light as they needed to knowing that their overly skilled Major was watching their every move, assessing their skill and determination.

They watched from the air as the group hiked ten miles and finally reached their planned beta sight and set up camp. They'd be allowed to sleep now until four when they'd get spooked again and John set the Jumper to hover up in the air and set down on the top of a cliff, cloaked, overlooking the large valley where all three teams had been placed for the night. The other two teams had both been spooked and while the first had reached its new location the last team hadn't yet finished and Harry knew that Markham and Cooper would follow them until they got settled and then land in order to sleep until just before sunrise, in time to spook them again.

Harry and John, while they wouldn't monitor the three teams would stay awake to monitor everything just in case but that didn't mean they couldn't have a little time to themselves hidden within a cloaked Jumper that couldn't be seen even by Atlantis.

**(A/N; The following scene has been removed and can be found, in time, on my adultfanfiction site.)**

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry walked into the training room with John at his side early in the morning, a little later than normal but that was because Harry had wanted to go for a run first and although John had excused himself he'd waited for Harry to get back before they'd gone to meet up with Teyla in the training room.

What they found was a tall man with his hair pulled into dozens of plaits around his head wearing clothing very similar to the style that Teyla wore. Obviously the man, Ronan, that John had brought back with him. Harry had only gotten back from the mainland the day before so had yet to meet him.

"I thought we were on for sparring this morning?" John asked.

"We are, you were late so Ronan..." Teyla trailed off as Ronan, less inclined to let her have her conversation, lashed out at her shoulder with his hand. Teyla reacted but slightly too slow and got a jarring hit to her arm. Harry assessed Ronan's fighting, he was extraordinarily good, better than anyone that Harry had seen in the military on Earth, perhaps good enough to compete. Harry was as well but he'd never seen the need. Ronan used both his arms and legs to block and defend himself but he only seemed to ever use his hands to attack but because of his sheer strength and size advantage he could pull his arms free of traps without too much effort. That wouldn't last if he tired himself and Harry noted that he put raw passion into the fight which even though it made him highly effective in short fights he wouldn't last as long as Harry in a long fight.

Ronan pinned Teyla down to the mat by her throat and John tensed up and was moving forward faster than Harry could stop him. "That's enough." John ordered and Ronan backed away.

"It's fine, John." Teyla promised him as she stood up rubbing at her throat.

"You have a good style, a little too aggressive for me." Harry stepped in to stop John from saying anything else. "Was that an adaptation because of Teyla's size and strength disadvantage?"

Ronan narrowed his eyes at Harry but didn't seem inclined to talk to him. "I'm sorry." Harry nodded. "My name is Major Harry Potter, any of the three is fine by me though. I'm the senior flight officer."

"Harry was my second in command before Major Lorne arrived. He's still in charge of the security of the base though." John added in helpfully.

"So you've come to determine if I am a threat or not?" Ronan asked sharply.

"I'm happy to leave that up to John, he has good enough instincts to know worth when he sees it." Harry complimented him rather vaguely. Harry didn't think this man would accept open praise. "How about we see whether my statement was true or not?"

"Which statement?" Ronan grunted even as he watched Harry move onto the mats and pull off his boots and jacket.

"I want to see whether you adapt when facing a target closer to your strength." Harry told him and ignored Ronan's dubious glance.

"Do not take him lightly, Ronan Dex." Teyla pointed out. "He's the most skilled fighter I have ever thought, perhaps until you."

Harry grinned at her and Ronan was clearly shocked by Harry's reaction to Teyla basically saying that Ronan was better than him. Harry turned back. "This isn't a competition for me, it's an assessment of your strength."

Ronan bent his knees and that was all the warning that Harry got but Harry was moving even before Ronan lashed out. Ronan's punch sailed completely clear of him but he still put up an arm to block it out as he sidestepped and wasn't taken by surprise when Ronan twisted to try to hit him on the side of the head. His sweep hit his arm and Harry ducked under it, spun and slammed his foot into Ronan's side, under the arm he'd committed.

Harry backed away as Ronan did. "Finished taking it easy?" Harry asked him and barely got a nod before Ronan was attacking him again, with renewed vigour and passion. Harry deflected, blocked and ducked Ronan's attacks for almost half a minute without making a strike himself but then instead of deflecting a double strike he knocked aside the first and grabbed Ronan's wrist and almost twisted his whole body to put weight into his own movement and upset Ronan's balance. Still keeping a hold of Ronan, Harry jumped up, pivoted onto his left leg and slammed his right leg into Ronan's upper right leg even as his pivot pulled Ronan's torso towards him. Harry let go even as Ronan hit the ground but the man rolled onto his back and flipped up to face Harry again.

Harry wasn't surprised when Ronan came for him with his hands again and Harry deflected knowing that he didn't need to keep his legs in constant motion because Ronan never used his legs to strike, only to sweep or lock which put him at a disadvantage because Harry could attack with his legs at any time and not have to give up his defence which Ronan was having to do to make strikes.

Ronan landed half a dozen hard hits but Harry landed exactly the same and Harry's were all leg strikes. The one thing that told Harry that Ronan was on league with him or even slightly better was that Harry couldn't get a hit in with his arms or hands no matter what tricks he used or how much he put into them. Ronan was just too fast with his hands and half the time Harry made a strike, Ronan pinned his arm with it and Harry had to use his legs to bail himself out.

Ronan got the upper hand after deadening Harry's left hand and Harry backed off with a nod knowing that they had quite the audience of Marines. Ronan grunted to admit he'd had enough and Harry turned and grabbed a towel one of the Marines offered him.

"What are you exactly?" Ronan asked him after a moment. Harry turned with a raised eyebrow and Ronan elaborated. "Are you a soldier?"

Harry chuckled with a smile. "I'm a soldier, just like anyone else here but the difference is perhaps that they are trained to protect or kill in order to protect. I'm trained simply to kill when necessary."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That night**

Harry pressed the chime on the door and glanced around even as the door opened into John's rooms and he quickly walked inside and shut the door. "Where have you been?" John asked where he was standing next to the door lock. Harry glanced at his exposed chest and a small smile spread across his face.

"Sorry I had some stuff I had to get done in the control room and I didn't want to get in anyone's way so I waited until most people headed off to bed." Harry told him with a shrug though his eyes automatically scanned John's expression to see if he believed him.

"Being sneaky are we?" John asked before closing the gap and wrapping his arms around Harry, pulling him in for a kiss. Harry ignored the question and was just glad that John had dropped it. John couldn't know what Harry was doing. Harry pulled back from the kiss for a moment before diving back in, walking the two towards the bed, turning them around so that Harry could flop back onto the bed. This night he wanted John to do this hard.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	14. Caught between Worlds

Cast Between Worlds

A/N; To all those that asked for the extra scene from the last chapter to be put up on my site I can happily say that it is now uploaded as chapter two of the additional scenes for this story.

Chapter 14; Caught between worlds

**Atlantis – Six weeks after their return**

Harry checked over the outside of his plane before he hopped up into the cockpit to start his pre-flight checks. The Atlantis-based aircraft, all eight of them, were pre-flight checked every morning by their pilots so that they could be launched without warning in the defence of the city. They were started up and run during those checks for about twenty minutes. Harry, regardless of how busy he was elsewhere, always made sure that the checks were done but on the occasions that he was on the mainland doing exercises Iain checked his plane over which was a little pointless anyway since only eight people on Atlantis and four on the Daedalus were capable of piloting them.

Either Cobra or Adder flight were to be posted on the Daedalus and they'd rotate every month since it took the Daedalus four weeks to reach Earth and then come back and that meant that four of his squadron had the chance to visit their families about once every couple of months. As a senior officer he stayed on Atlantis along with Viper flight but Claire, Iain and Alex would get the chance to go home just as often as the rest of the Atlantis expedition which meant not all that much. Really it wasn't a major problem for them since the Daedalus position had been miserable for Adder flight straight off because it was basically four weeks with nothing to do and no flying.

Now though the Daedalus was currently on Earth for the next week along with Cobra flight and Adder flight was here with Viper flight. Which meant that Knight was a long way away and currently not getting aggravated by Brokewell. Caldwell had gotten a report from one of his female crew about the Scottish-born Izzy Maxwell who had been put on the spot during a planning meeting and ripped into because her answer wasn't what Brokewell was looking for. He'd talked to John Phillips and Hugh Stevens, the other air force pilots, and been told about it. Brokewell had made a comment about backwards Europeans playing like big countries which hadn't gone down well in his flight since two were British RAF and one was French Armée de l'Air.

Harry had sat in on the last few Adder flight strategy meetings and organised a few more exercises where Iain and Hugh took up the four lieutenant equivalents and kept Brokewell down in the control room with him. He'd told John and Elizabeth what he thought of the man but he had friends in high places and Harry was still toying on whether to tangle with that sort of trouble.

"Vipers check in." Harry ordered as he finished his own pre-flight checks and hit the control to close in his little world. He strapped himself in as Iain, Claire and finally Alex checked in with him. "Adder-one, check in on completion of flight link check." Harry ordered before starting up his own flight link which showed the other 304s in Viper flight and showed them in the 'ready to start' status.

"_Viper-one this is Adder-one, we're ready to go on your command."_ Brokewell announced.

Harry overrode the flight link's restrictions to talk to all of the units even as Iain pointed it out to him needlessly over their closed link. Alex said something rather unpleasant about Brokewell not doing checks properly but he probably didn't realise he was open-mic like all of his flight normally were.

"Adder-two, report in on completion of pre-flight checks." Harry stated simply, talking to Hugh, the French Pilot. His canopy was still open but that wasn't his fault. Brokewell had probably seen that Harry's flight was ready and didn't want to be shown up. The fact that the two flights were head to head and Harry could physically see all of his planes hadn't seemed to occur to Brokewell. Harry didn't want to cause problems for Hugh but Brokewell was in the wrong. Hugh was a professional and wouldn't have told Brokewell that he was ready if he wasn't.

"_Adder flight ready to launch."_ Brokewell told him after Harry watched Hugh shut his canopy and presumably report as much to Brokewell. Harry could talk to them and they could talk to him easily enough but Harry couldn't connect to their flight link without changing his Viper's settings.

"Atlantis control this is Viper-one ready to launch and begin exercise." Harry reported up to the tower.

"_Viper and Adder flight cleared for launch. Have a good flight." _A voice told him. Harry still didn't know all of the four hundred expedition members but he was getting there. He knew all of the Marines though. All the easier to avoid them when he needed to.

"All flights, power up." Harry ordered and hit his ignition. His baby shook slightly as the engine came up to minimal power. "All units quick launch, flight discretion." Harry ordered before even letting them all power up. He changed to his flight link to see who in his own flight was ready even as Brokewell presumably did the same. "Four, go." Harry ordered seeing that Alex was ready. His Viper shot up into the air and pulled backwards to get clear of the other seven. "Two, go." Harry ordered and Iain shot up after him even as Brokewell got it together and took off himself. Harry pulled up five metres, pulled clear and spun to begin climbing. "Three, go." Harry ordered a few long moments later.

He gave her time to get clear and then continued his orders to his own flight. "Viper flight regroup on me. Standard formation." Harry ordered and settled down at half power in a loose turn around Atlantis at the height of the control room. Iain settled down on his right with Alex on his own wing and Claire rose up into position on his own left wing.

"One, I know you left me to last but Adder two and four were still on the ground." Claire told him. He hadn't asked but that was precisely the reason he'd left her on the ground those extra few seconds. To find out what Brokewell did. The reason Harry had ordered Iain and Alex up first was because how was he supposed to order take offs when he was concentrating on settling into his own safe flight? Brokewell would have had to settle into a safe position before continuing to control his flight. That or he'd done it without paying attention to what he was ordering. Claire had been another matter, she'd been the last of the flight so not likely to cause trouble if they'd taken their own commands.

Harry watched in silence as his Viper tracked Adder flight as they finally formed up in the opposite position to his own flight at the same speed. _"Adder flight in position."_ Brokewell reported. Harry scribbled down onto the crib sheet strapped to his legs, noting times and his own comments.

None of the others had a clue what the exercise was today. Only Elizabeth and John had been briefed since it would focus on Atlantis and John had decided on his own fun for the day. "Adder flight maintain any protective patterns for Atlantis." Harry ordered before altering his own course to open up to the east. His flight followed without having to be ordered. He blocked Adder flights communications except for emergency signals and then turned to the flight-link. "Time to put Adder flight to their paces." Harry told his own flight. "Block external communications and turn of IFFs."

He knew the other three were grinning and glanced at the flight-link to see the icons for external communications turn red and the IFF symbol to go grey. They'd still get emergency transmissions from the Adders or Atlantis but to them they'd look like unidentified enemies. Except that their sensors would pick up the profiles of X-304s so they'd know it was part of the exercise.

He turned at a thousand miles to loop around to the south knowing that the curvature of the Earth would mean that Atlantis and Adder flight would have lost them on sensors. He dropped down to the surface and the others followed as he punched up the speed to eighty percent. "Four rotate to lead." Harry ordered and dropped his speed. It was a rather impressive manoeuvre really. Alex didn't actually move since he instantly took lead position without altering his course or speed. Harry dropped right back out of the way and crossed behind Alex's stern and took up his right wing. Claire did a similar move to swap to his own right wing and then Iain came up on Alex's left wing. They had a standard formation for each of them in lead.

"Three take my position." Harry confused matters and pulled up so that Claire could slide into his position on Alex's wing. He dropped down on her own wing and he knew that the stone had dropped for the others. He still said it though. "Pair attacks, four lead two, three lead one. Four and two target ZPM control, three and one target control chair. Confirm."

"Three confirming." Claire reported for herself and him.

There was a pause as Iain confirmed to Alex and even though Harry could hear it he ignored it. "Four confirming."

They passed the five hundred mile mark and Alex ordered full power and spacing. Claire moved out to a hundred metres off of Alex's wing before taking charge of Harry. "Three will attack, one will cover." Alex told Iain a similar thing.

There were certain rules, standing orders, that Harry had placed for all exercises. Basically there were only the rules to prevent injury. At no time was anyone allowed to cut in front of another flight to prevent target solution, nor could the defenders drop below one hundred metres so that in the event of a collision situation the attackers could hit the deck and know they wouldn't start a clusterfuck. Also in this situation no plane was to enter the sphere of the city meaning any space between the buildings since it was simply too risky. If somebody declared the word coltan over the net then the exercise ended right then and there and all planes levelled off at one thousand metres and reported in to Atlantis Control.

At three hundred miles Harry's Viper informed him that the full weight of the city's sensors had hit him and a few seconds later Adder flight appeared on his own radar. Claire started opening up the gap but still crawled along the water surface to make it harder for the Adders to track them. It had no effect on the city's sensors though but the curvature of the planet had hidden them up to that point.

Anyone with any sense already knew what the outcome of his exercise would be. Viper flight would pulverise their targets because Harry hadn't stipulated a lock at any certain range and because Adder flight wouldn't know what the situation was. Their only hope was to engage them out here but Brokewell was taking his time deciding that they were a threat.

"Three, Adder flight is engaging." Harry reported to his 'leader' as was his job and she confirmed even as Iain did the same for Alex who, as temporary flight leader, was responsible for all of them in this exercise.

"Escorts take point." Alex ordered and Harry grinned happily knowing that that was exactly what he would have done. Claire fell back since Harry was already at full power and to make it impossible for Adder flight to lock onto her she fell in right behind him. Iain and Alex did the same thing. "Escorts break off once engaged, shake opponents and then track bombers."

"One confirming." Harry told him graciously but couldn't really keep the smile out of his voice.

"Two confirming." Iain said just as two of the Adders locked straight onto Harry at one hundred miles. "Two has enemy lock."

"One has enemy lock. Targeting." Harry hit his own weapons radar which honed in and found all four of the Adders. He locked onto the two locked onto him and just as he came into weapons range he told the others he was breaking and twisted his ship into what would normally have been a stomach lurching roll and powered straight up. Adder flight had to remain above a hundred metres and Harry shot up in front of them at a distance of only twenty miles. As his engines aligned down towards the ground a massive geyser of water and steam rocketed up. Iain banked hard to the left and climbed up over the safety deck and Adder fight broke in two to follow them and before they realised their mistake Alex and Claire shot right under them before they could readjust and lock on.

Then in their distraction three of them couldn't come around to follow through on their attacks on Iain and Harry. Iain broke his own opponents locks as they circled around but one of Harry's own tails had seen the trick and followed Harry up. Harry grinned but wasn't sure who it was with his own externals shut off. He spun out of his climb and plummeted down towards Claire's position, using the gravity of the planet to catch up to her. His tail fell in behind him and Harry spun and evaded with perfect grace stopping them from locking back onto him. Harry checked Claire's safety to see her circling around the city to get a clear shot at the control chair and spotted one of the Adders chasing her but they couldn't close on something at the same speed as themselves. Although Claire would have to circle the entire city to get a clear shot off. As would Alex which is why Harry had picked those targets. If the guy down there chasing Claire thought things through they could cut closer to the edge of the city and if they were really lucky get a shot off. Though that probably wouldn't stop Claire from getting her own shot off.

Harry pitched straight down at the deck to lose his own tail and checked on Iain and Alex. Alex had two tails at the same sort of range as Claire's tail but as Harry watched Iain swooped in behind them and his link told him that Iain had taken one out. The obedient Adder fell off to the side and climbed to clear the exercise. One defender down and now Alex's other tail was trying to evade Iain who was one of Earth's best dogfighters. Harry levelled off at two hundred metres and decided to shake his tail in the best way he knew how. He slammed off power to one of his engines and before his tail could work out what he was doing he slammed it right back up again. He turned as he did it and span the ship laterally, something only possible with the immense power of the X-304s. He spun back to his right and although he bled off speed he had a perfect view of his tail as it overshot him. A second later Harry had a lock at optimum range and hit the pulse that told his once tail that he'd been killed. There was no way to dodge a missile fired from only a hundred metres away.

The Adder climbed as Harry spun and flew down to see if he could cause Claire's tail a little bit of panic and noted that Iain was still dogfighting with one of the Adders. Claire was coming around onto her final approach, a safe distance away from any surface defenders so that she could launch her missile from safety from flak but the Adder chasing her did something Harry didn't expect. They turned sharply and cut through Atlantis, cutting between two pairs of buildings to cut off the time they needed to lock onto Claire.

Harry hit the emergency channel even as Claire was locked onto. "Coltan!" Harry shouted. "Coltan, coltan!"

He veered upwards sharply and 'looked' around at the others. His own kill fell in on his wing even though it was an Adder. Iain's dogfight broke up and Alex climbed out before he could make his own attack and the three grouped together. Claire banked up sharply to avoid the Adder that had cut through the city and climbed up towards Harry. Harry reopened all of the flight communications and was told exactly who was who even as his own flight all turned back on their IFFs. His own kill was Adder-three, John Phillips. Iain's kill, which had now rejoined Iain's temporary flight of four was Adder-four, Izzy Maxwell and the one that had survived Iain's dogfighting was Adder-two, Hugh Stevens. And the arsehole climbing up to his position behind Claire was Adder-one. Brokewell.

"_Viper-one. Atlantis control. This is Viper-two reporting in with Viper-four, Adder-two and Adder-three."_ Iain reported in.

"_This is Atlantis roger."_

"Atlantis control this is Viper-one reporting confirmation of all Viper and Adder flights safe. Exercise is scrubbed." Harry knew he sounded pissed, extremely pissed. "Permission to land?"

"_You have permission to land."_ He was told. _"On Viper-ones command."_

"Adder flight first." Harry ordered. "Complete post-flight checks, shower and change. I'll contact you for individual debriefs this afternoon. Spend the time alone and think about the exercise."

"_This is Adder-one confirming."_ Brokewell broke off.

A few seconds later Harry was called by John on his wing. _"Viper-one, permission to detach formation?"_

"Permission granted, Adder-four." Harry told him even though he knew he hadn't been able to keep all of his irritation out of his voice. John dropped down at whatever flight-linked orders he'd gotten and Harry listened in as Iain gave permission for Hugh and Izzy to detach and follow down.

Claire rejoined with him and Iain and Alex soon joined them as well. Harry didn't say anything and merely waited until the Adders were down before moving over and landing all at the same time.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Half an hour later**

Harry stepped out of his shower and pulled a towel around his waist before stepping out into his bedroom to find John sitting on the end of his bed. Harry took a deep breath before heading over to the door and locking it. Not because John was there but because he wanted to get dressed. He moved over to the flight radio that sat in a charger next to the military one and the scientist net and held the multi-microphone and slipped it on over his ear. It was programmed for all three radios to listen to all in order of priority and to transmit on whichever one Harry pressed the radio for. This time he did it for the flight radios. "Viper flight debrief will start at thirteen hundred hours in the conference suite. Viper-one out."

"Starting with your own guys then?" John asked.

"I'm guessing it didn't take you much to realise why I called it off?" Harry asked as he sat down next to John on the bed. John glanced at the door lock before touching Harry on the back. They were lucky in that Harry's room, so high up on the main tower wasn't subject to windows in the other buildings.

"I had the defensive positions manned by the time your flight came into attack range. The Marines did good saying they had no warning at all." John added helpfully. "They were quick to inform me that one of the planes had cut through even as you called it off. We didn't know who it was though. Still don't."

"Yeah, I had to come cool off a little first." Harry sighed. "Fucking arsehole."

"Oh. Brokewell then?" John laughed and Harry sighed and leaned forwards to rub at his face. "Did he not realise it was against the rules?"

"Brokewell is an arse with friends in high places." Harry shook his head. "Unfortunately with the short work-up period I couldn't even think about replacing him." Harry stood up and grabbed clothes and unabashedly began changing in front of John who dutifully stopped his eyes from wandering though he didn't hide his attention. "I need to talk to Elizabeth."

"About?" John asked.

"I need her and your support to ground him until further notice." Harry sighed as he sat again to pull on socks and his boots.

"Let's go. You can debrief us on exactly what happened and we'll make a decision as a group." John nodded.

"How diplomatic of you, John." Harry laughed though it was forced. He stood up and began clipping on his radios and his sidearm and Sai.

"I know you can ground him without us but as we all know he has friends in high places." John pointed out. "Better it to come from all of us."

Harry smiled at him before gesturing to the door. John looked like he wanted to kiss Harry but restrained himself knowing that Harry wanted to just get his work over with. He knew how Harry worked by now, or at least he was starting to. As they walked up to the control room Harry chatted to him about the cities responses and how long it took the control room to realise what Elizabeth and John had known all along. That Viper flight was simulating a hostile attack.

Elizabeth was in her office when they arrived and Harry moved and shut the door that led through to the control room before joining John opposite the desk. He sighed as he sat back and Elizabeth watched him for a moment. "Go on, Harry. How did it go?" Elizabeth asked.

"Detection times were reasonable although it took Brokewell a few too many moments to decide to engage us at range although that can be put to a side because we could have been a distraction." Harry held up a hand and wiggled it to show it was an arguable point. "I put Fields and Carlthorpe in control of the attack and they did perfectly, even thinking to make Bennett and I as decoys which let them slip right under Adder flight. Phillips managed to keep his head and see through the ploy early enough that he gave up trying to chase Fields and came for me. I had to do some pretty flying to take him down. Stevens and Maxwell tried to chase Carlthorpe and my second took Maxwell down before they remembered him and spent a while dogfighting to his heart's content with Stevens though he was just staying alive and distracting him."

"Which means it was Brokewell that cut through the city." Elizabeth frowned.

"He changed target when he saw the ploy but you can't close gaps easily when you're putting 304s against 304s. He didn't know what Fields' target was but he saw her swing wide and cut the corner of the city to get a lock." Harry narrowed his eyes. "Against my own standing orders and goddamn common sense. The blast wave itself could have... what?" He asked when Elizabeth frowned.

"We've got a scientist in the infirmary from sound damage." She told him with a sigh. "He was running tests on one of the rail guns when the Marines manned it and it wasn't working properly. The Marines are fine."

"I'll go down and talk to Carson and check he'll be alright." Harry nodded.

"What are you going to do about Captain Brokewell?" Elizabeth asked.

"Boot him out." John chirped up decisively.

"I would like your support in removing his flight status until further notice." Harry told her simply. "He's a danger as proven today. Takes a cavalier approach and takes risks to gain his scores. He did it against the RNTG, the Daedalus and now today. I've had constant reports from Cobra, Adder and even my own flight that he's out of line on many occasions and he's bullying his own Flight. I could name a dozen men I'd rather have out here and if we go live I honestly don't want him near me or my squadron."

"You understand this could cause you serious problems back on Earth?" Elizabeth asked. "It was the Chief of the Air Force that gave him the position."

"Out here it's the two of us that have overriding authority." John pointed out. "And if Harry says he's a danger then he's a danger and I want him out."

"Can we withstand losing one of the X-304s?" Elizabeth asked him.

"No." Harry shook his head. "But we can't afford for him to cause an incident and damage one of the planes or even kill one of my decent pilots. As it is everyone in my flight can fly circles around him. He's here because of his friends and no other reason and I don't like it. I've held my tongue but I won't any longer. On Earth I wouldn't have even come to you guys to ask to do this. I could ground him until he gets an appeal. Out here I want to ground him until the next time we dial home and then get a replacement out."

"Alright Harry." Elizabeth nodded after glancing at John and getting his own nod. "Ground him."

"Thank you, Elizabeth." Harry nodded before standing and glancing at his watch. "I need food."

"Come on." John grinned.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few hours later**

"Adder-four, report to the conference room." Harry ordered over the flight net. All of the flight teams monitored the flight net and the military net but he didn't want everyone on the military net to know what he was doing with the debriefs. If Brokewell was sensible he'd now know that he was last and if he had any sense at all he'd be bricking it.

"What are you going to do about Brokewell?" Iain asked after Claire and Alex had left the room. They'd just run through the whole operation and for their part it had gone well.

"I have Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard's support in grounding him." Harry told Iain simply. "I need to talk to Stevens first but it may be necessary to put you in charge of Adder flight until we can get a replacement for Brokewell. Stevens isn't ready for that job yet."

"You want me to come back when you deal with him?" Iain asked looking worried, probably thinking about how Harry was younger than Iain by a little bit at four months under twenty-six and Brokewell was forty and quite a bit larger than Harry.

Harry actually had to laugh but then smiled a real smile at Iain. "Iain, I'm special forces. When the Marines here play poker the loser has to take me on in hand to hand class. I can handle the idiot." He told him and Iain laughed and relaxed slightly. Iain had only just left when Flight Lieutenant Izzy Maxwell knocked at the one open panel and walked in. Harry gestured her to a seat on the right hand side of the triangular table so they weren't at opposite sides of the room. He took her in as she fidgeted and took in her nerves and certain tone in her eyes which meant she was trying to hide how upset she was.

"Flight Lieutenant Maxwell." Harry sighed and moved his notes to one side. "I understand that this is your first position in a small command structure. You're previous posting was as part of the Interceptor Squadron so I understand that you are used to large support structures and equally large command structures. Plenty of places to go to escape your direct commanding officer. But in reality there is almost always someone else to go to if you have problems."

"I have gone to Lieutenant Fields, Sir." She admitted, finally really understanding where Harry was going with this.

"Lieutenant Fields is not a position to deal with a situation like this, Flight Lieutenant." Harry said simply. "She is your peer and while I understand the need to talk to an equal about a situation like this it is your responsibility to report it up the line to your supervising officer and if that's not possible then to another supervising officer." Harry sounded stern and she winced. "Bullying is not something I take lightly, Flight Lieutenant, and you have tried to deal with it admirably. You shouldn't need to do so for much longer."

"Sir?" She sounded confused and a little worried.

"Flight Lieutenant." Harry reprimanded. "Do I look like somebody that would discard a valuable member of my squadron such as you to appease a man like Captain Brokewell?"

"No, Sir." She tried looking down at the table top.

"I want a report written up by yourself by the end of the day and handed to Doctor Weir. Report this properly to your commanding officer and in this case that is her." Harry told her simply before moving his paperwork back in front of him. "Take me through what you did out there today. Why did make the choices you did?"

She livened up as this turned into a normal debrief, one on one though it was. She stayed with him for a further half an hour before he dismissed her. She paused before the door opened to face him. "Sir? If I may?"

"Go ahead, Flight Lieutenant."

"You said earlier that I shouldn't need to deal with it any longer?" She asked.

"Flight Lieutenant." Harry sighed. "That is not your concern. Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir!" She snapped to and slipped out of the room.

Harry sighed as he called for Flight Lieutenant Phillips to report to him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**An hour later**

"Captain Brokewell, take a seat." Harry ordered without standing up. He was still taking a few notes from his previous debriefs since he didn't like taking extensive notes when his pilots were talking to him.

"Major Potter." Brokewell agreed and took a seat.

Harry pushed his papers to the side and finally looked up. "Did you read my exercise standing orders, Captain?" He asked with a deceptively calm voice.

"Yes, Sir." Brokewell nodded. "But..."

"I didn't ask for an explanation yet, Captain." Harry cut in dangerously. "Was any part of my orders unclear?"

"No, Sir, but...." Harry hissed and Brokewell snapped his mouth shut.

"What part of do not fly between the structures of Atlantis did you not understand?" Harry asked sharply.

"My mission was to protect Atlantis and prevent unknown attackers from destroying targets." Brokewell told him simply. "I did what I needed to do to complete the mission."

"This was an exercise, Captain." Harry narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps if we had been Wraith then your actions might have been justified."

"What is the point of false training?" The Captain argued.

"My orders were there for a reason, Captain!" Harry snapped. "Your actions blew out a man's ears and one small mistake by you could have slammed your X-304 through one of the city's buildings."

"I am not one to make mistakes, Captain." Brokewell defended.

"Just this morning you declared your flight ready to launch yet I could see with my own eyes that your second in command was not ready." Harry snapped. "You are interested only in your own achievements and not the safety of your own flight."

"Sometimes the mission requires losses. You might be too young..." Brokewell started.

"Be silent, _Captain_." Harry snapped. "Or do you forget that I have spent years fighting on the ground. For that matter you have never seen combat with the X-304s. You showed on Earth that you were willing to abandon your wingman to get in a kill and you proved against the Daedalus in orbit that you focus only on yourself and not the situation as a whole. For those reasons I wished to replace you as soon as I could."

"You don't have the right." Brokewell told him.

"I am your commanding officer, Captain." Harry said bluntly. "If I want to request a replacement for you then I can. That said, the point is now moot, your actions today have been in direct violation of a simple standing order and you placed yourself and the city of Atlantis at great risk. You are hereby removed from active flight status. You are not permitted to power up your X-304 and you are temporarily stripped of your officer status."

Brokewell leapt to his feet. "You can't do this!" He yelled.

Harry followed him up more gracefully. "Captain Brokewell, I assure you that as your Squadron leader I can."

"Listen you punk kid. You'll rue the fact you tried this." Brokewell started.

"Captain Brokewell, I am a Major of the United States Air Force. Eight weeks ago I stood in the Oval Office and the President offered me a favour to go along with my Medal of Honor." Harry told him calmly. "I advise that you keep your mouth shut and lay low until we organise your return to Earth through the Stargate."

"I demand to talk to Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard." Brokewell snapped.

"Be my guest." Harry motioned to Brokewell's radio. "I spoke to him and Doctor Weir before beginning the debriefs. He's as disgusted by your actions as I am. You're a bully, Captain Brokewell and my recommendation to the Air Force will be to dismiss you from the Officer Corps. A decision I doubt your flight will argue with. And, Captain, you are hereby ordered to stay away from Flight Lieutenants Phillips and Maxwell. If you don't I will have you placed under house arrest is that clear?"

"Why you little bastard!" He snarled and tried to circle the table. Harry frowned at him but didn't move even when Brokewell struggled against his desire to hurt him.

"Do not compound this problem, Captain."

"You snotty little shit with your medals and British pomp. You don't understand what it takes to be in a _real_ Air Force!" Brokewell snarled.

"You are dismissed Captain Brokewell." Harry ordered and tapped the table to unlock the doors which slid open. The two Marines outside glanced inside and saw Brokewell up in Harry's face and frowned but didn't make a move.

"You'll regret this!" Brokewell snarled getting even closer. "As soon as I'm back in the US I'll have you and that bitch Maxwell out of the Air Force."

"Dismissed, _Captain_. Now!" Harry snapped and his voice rose enough that the two Marines moved closer reaching for their sidearms.

"Bastard!" Brokewell seemed to forget where he was and he lashed out with his right fist. Harry deflected his arm, grabbed his shoulder and slammed him face down on the table.

"You are out of line, Captain." Harry informed him tiredly and looked up as the Marines rushed in. "Escort the Captain to his rooms and post a sentry at his door. He's allowed to be escorted to meals but other than that he is restricted to his own rooms."

"Yes, Sir!" Stackhouse agreed. Harry released Brokewell and took his sidearm out of its holster and set it down on the table.

"Get him out of here." Harry ordered sharply as Stackhouse and Howitz took him firmly between them. Harry studied him for a moment before the two Marines hauled him out of the room and down through the Gateroom as everyone stopped to watch. Harry thumbed the military net. "All units be aware that Captain Brokewell is stripped of his status from this moment onwards. He is confined to quarters and is to be reported in if seen outside on his own."

Harry gathered his write up sheets and walked through into the control room. He took a moment to greet everyone before calling a flight meeting that evening just before dinner so he could place Hugh in command of Adder flight.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry checked around the area with his own life signs detector and then put the crate down in the loose section of flooring. This was the ideal place to put it since it was between the control tower and the X-304 hanger so if he had to make it quickly from the control tower to his Viper he wouldn't need to divert to pick up ammunition and equipment. He made sure it was well hidden before heading back down towards the control tower just as his radio came to life.

"_Major Potter, report to the control room."_ The on duty controller in the Gateroom requested.

"This is Major Potter, I'm on my way." He paused assessing where he was but he already knew he was near to a transport room. "Thirty seconds."

He ducked around a corner and into a room and hit the destination and after a short jog entered the gate room. He was up the steps in a couple of bounds and into the control room. "What's the matter?" He asked Elizabeth.

"Colonel Sheppard's team ran into a Wraith Dart. They managed to shoot it down but it scooped up Rodney and Lieutenant Cadman." Elizabeth sighed. "I've called for Zelenka. I want you to take him through when he's ready."

Harry nodded. "Better then it escaping in my opinion."

"Let's hope they agree." She winced.

Harry headed quickly to the armoury and kitted himself out but forwent the M40 Sniper Rifle and just took a P-90 and then the normal provisions. As he entered the Gate room again he saw Zelenka coming in from the other side carrying as much equipment as he could. Harry glanced up at a waiting Elizabeth and rotated his finger into the air. She nodded and called back into the control room and the gate started dialling up. Harry thumbed his military radio. "Captain Forks, Captain Bennett, this is Major Potter." He called.

"_Go ahead, Major."_ Forks came on quickly.

"_Go one."_ Iain replied quickly letting himself slip into more familiar plane speak.

"I'm going offworld. Major Lorne and Colonel Sheppard are already through the gate. You two are in charge until one of us comes back to the city." Harry ordered.

"_Understood, Major."_ Forks replied just before Iain gave him a double click to say the same. Pilots really had quick communication down to an art form but they tended to stick to the more commonly known short hand when on other nets. Harry glanced up at Elizabeth who tapped her ear to show she'd heard the conversation. Harry nodded before gesturing for Zelenka to follow him through.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few hours later**

"Okay, let me just check I got that right..." Harry frowned across at John and Elizabeth. "We got Rodney out of the machine in body but both of them out in his head?"

"That's about it." John nodded. "Weird stuff out here."

"Not so weird compared to some of the crap I've seen." Harry chuckled. "What's the plan?"

"Basically we need to get the Dart scoop to pick up Rodney again, sort out the signals and dematerialise them properly." Elizabeth sighed.

Harry frowned. He had stuff he needed to do and this was bad timing but it was also a distraction for the others. "I still need to run my Viper to the mainland."

"I thought you were taking a Jumper to muck with the Marines?" John frowned. Harry hid his wince, he should have remembered that John was a stickler for details.

"If I'm going to mess with them I might as well do it properly." Harry shrugged. In truth what he needed was already in the Viper and he needed to get it out so that when the Vipers were disarmed at his order he could still get to weapons on the mainland.

"Good point." John nodded but he was still frowning at something. "I'd offer to come help over night but unless we get this all sorted out..."

"It's alright, John." Glad that clearly John was concerned about something else. Harry wondered if John would have been more suspicious if they weren't hiding a relationship and then assessed whether that was going to cause problems at a later date. Probably not.

"Enjoy it, Harry. We'll keep you informed." Elizabeth grinned.

Harry stood. "I should get going soon."

"I'll see you off." John offered and the two left and headed down to Harry's room so that Harry could shower and change. John locked the door behind them, made a cursory glance out of the window even as Harry pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the bed.

"You going to join me then?" Harry asked.

"You know I can't join you in the shower. If my hair's wet..." John sighed.

Harry sighed too before shrugging and slipping off his boots and then the rest of his clothes and headed into his bathroom, leaving the door open as he started the water. John followed him in but had lost his t-shirt by the door. He grabbed Harry's arm and pushed him against the wall and covered his body with his own. "What's with you at the moment?" John asked.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You disappear for hours at a time. When we're together your mind is always elsewhere and lately you just seem to be stuck in the mindset of a person going into battle." John frowned.

"It's just who I am." Harry shrugged nervously.

"Not all the time though." John shook his head. "I'm worried about you. You've gotten colder in the last few weeks."

"It's not like we have much free time." Harry dodged the cold comment. It wasn't that Harry was purposely getting colder.

John sighed and put his head on Harry's shoulder and slipped his arms around him. "I miss you being..." He paused. "Yourself."

Harry relaxed into the embrace knowing that he was going to have trouble pulling this off with John watching him so closely. Harry kissed his neck and simply let John hold onto him for a time to soothe himself as well as John.

"I care about you, Harry." John told him. "You know that, right? You can talk to me."

"I know." Harry nodded. "I care about you too, more than is probably wise of either of us."

John nodded and let him go. "Go get your shower or you'll be late."

"Advantage of taking my Viper, I can make up time on a Jumper." Harry smiled softly and leaned in and kissed John on the lips.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

"It's good to have you back in your own body, Lieutenant Cadman." Harry told her as she lay in the hospital bed.

"Yeah," John grinned. "Way to survive what I think might be my worst nightmare!"

"Thank you, Sirs." She grinned.

"Yes..." Rodney grumbled sarcastically from the bed next to hers. "Thank you."

They'd managed to separate the scientist and Marine into separate bodies once more and as Harry left the infirmary he couldn't help but think that his upcoming job might have been easier if Rodney was out of action. He pondered finding a way to put Rodney and Zelenka out of action just beforehand but he knew that it was raise too many questions and he couldn't afford that.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Four days later**

Harry eyed Ronan across the training mat even as twenty Marines watched from the sides of the training room. Harry's eyes were half closed and he took it a step further and lowered his arms, forgetting the rest of the world in favour of every shift that Ronan made. Ronan was a good fighter but he was loud and Harry wanted to use that to his advantage.

Ronan frowned at Harry's complacency and lashed out. Harry twisted his body around Ronan's attack and knocked aside his follow up attack and then froze again to study Ronan's body as Ronan narrowed his eyes and struck out again one after another. Seeing that Harry wasn't trying to find an opening he was able to dodge or block everything that came at him until he took an opportunity after a few minutes and slammed his fist just under Ronan's ribcage, knocking the wind from him.

"The lesson there is just because you can hit hard and as fast as Ronan you're always going to make a mistake in the end." Harry told the Marines as he shifted to move around Ronan while he talked. "I used to have a teacher that could stand there while four of us tried to hit him and he'd just deflect our attacks. In this kind of combat our bodies betray us. Open yourself up to those little clues and..." He dodged, spun and slammed his foot into Ronan's upper leg. "...you can see what your opponent has planned before he makes the move."

Ronan's fist was flying without much warning and Harry rolled backwards to avoid it. Harry laughed. "Of course a good enough fighter can force their bodies not to give away those clues." Harry nodded at Ronan to show he'd noticed.

"Sir!" A Marine called holding up his earpiece. He was the man that Harry had given his radio too so he could fight without it. "Control room wants you."

Harry bowed to Ronan and moved over to accept the radio. "Major Potter here."

"_Major, you have an emergency message from Earth."_ He was told. _"Doctor Weir has it."_

"I'm on my way up." Harry sighed and apologised to Ronan and then pointed out four of the Marines who's turn it was for some extra training. They groaned but Ronan just grinned and called them forward. "Try to actually teach them something rather than how to limp for three days." Harry warned Ronan who just faked a rather offended look.

Harry put a towel around his neck but he hadn't really worked up much of a sweat and just walked up to the control room wondering what would come through the Gate for him. He was pointed straight into Elizabeth's office where John was sitting waiting. "John?" Harry asked in surprise.

"The message is encrypted using a password entry but no password." Elizabeth frowned. "But it does say for your eyes and then ours."

"Interesting." Harry frowned and picked up Elizabeth's data board filled with the encrypted message. It was asking for a password and was only giving him one attempt but it was also handing him a clue in the form of 'one word, lower case; classified school – Gen. O'Neill'. He frowned wondering why General O'Neill would use that but it made sense, only Harry and a select few people knew the name of that school. Only people with classified clearance of his specific kind.

"Classified school?" John asked.

"With all due respect, John, that's classified for a reason." Harry told him even as he typed in the word 'hogwarts' and watched as it decrypted the message. He read it through.

"_Primarily for the eyes of Captain Harry James Potter, USAF. Contents clear any necessary for top clearance in relation to Magical World. Brief Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and Doctor Elizabeth Weir on completion of reading this."_ Harry paused and sat down with a huff. "Oh shit." He muttered before holding up a hand to stall their questions. The cat was out of the bag now and he had to go with it and hopefully still manage his mission.He continued reading. _"Sources inside the Magical World have uncovered an undercover mission with the intention of destroying Atlantis. All investigations on Earth have validated the threat, including Seer involvement. Hostile presence on Atlantis is confirmed however there are no clues as to who they are or if they are voluntary or forced. Proceed with caution." _It went on to detail Daedalus' arrival in three days time with aid on board and Harry realised that they'd known about this for weeks and hidden it until Daedalus was too close to change plans.

He rubbed at his head and put the board down on his lap. "Harry?"

"The two of you now have the same level of clearance that I do." Harry told them simply. "You remember you were cleared for my storm ability but nothing else regardless of the situation?" Harry asked Elizabeth who nodded. "Well that's now changed."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked. "Perhaps you should explain it all properly."

"There is an organisation on Earth..." Harry paused. "Better said there is a parallel civilisation on Earth that has existed for thousands of years, though only secretly for the last five or six hundred years since religions started targeting them."

"Them?" John asked.

"Wizards and Witches." Harry said bluntly and the two stared at him in disbelief and then shock as they assessed the chances of Harry making this up. The chances were pretty low. "I get this sounds a little out there but try to bear in mind that you travel through a wormhole to other planets in another galaxy. Not to mention we faced an Ancient who can create an energy field that destroys fleets of Wraith ships. Then there's the Wraith feeding and lastly my own abilities."

"Magic is still rather out there." Elizabeth pointed out.

"Magic is the manipulation of energy in all forms be it atomic, gravity, elemental. Whatever." Harry tried to explain. "They don't view it scientifically like you and I would and some of the things they are capable of are rather hard to explain away."

"Why do you know about this?" John asked. "Did you have missions against them?"

"Your school?" Elizabeth leaned forwards with a frown. "The clue for the password and the fact that all of your history before the RAF is highly classified."

"I used to be one." Harry told them both simply. "I was raised not to know about it until I was eleven and went to a boarding school, the school in the clue, that was isolated from the world you know and was taught how to control magic."

"The cult that murdered your parents?" John asked.

"Wizards." Harry shrugged. "When I was fourteen I was kidnapped by the leader of the cult right out of school, tortured and he did something to me that permanently cut off my control of magic. For that the Magical World discarded me. I was put out for the normal world to deal with and the RAF offered me a place in their academy."

"Harry..." John started but Harry cut him off with a cold look.

"I don't like the Magical World and I don't want anything to do with it." Harry stated simply.

"Are they dangerous?" Elizabeth asked.

"I nearly alienated everyone here when that Ascended Ancient was here." Harry pointed out. "She accessed my mind. Wizards can do the same thing, pull out your thoughts and even manipulate them."

"So why are we finding out now?" John asked.

"Because they are here." Harry put the pad on the table. "Somehow they have infiltrated the expedition with the intention to destroy Atlantis."

"Could they?" John asked.

"If a Wizard is here and we haven't noticed then he can circumvent every Marine on this base and destroy the city rather easily." Harry told him.

"Then what do we do?" Elizabeth asked.

"There really isn't much we can do." Harry shrugged. "They don't use weapons like ours so we can't find any sabotage and even if we try to confront them we're defenceless against them. One spoken word and a good shot and their target dies. I've seen it too many times. The Daedalus is a few days out with aid on board which I imagine is another Wizard or Witch from an opposing side." Harry rolled his eyes to show what he thought of that.

"Should we warn everybody?" Elizabeth asked.

"If you let whoever this is know that we're on the lookout for them then they'll just advance their plans." Harry pointed out. "Look normally speaking these guys are set back in the sixteenth century technology wise, they rely on their magic. The idea of them being able to manipulate the city is ridiculous but their spells could obliterate entire sections of the city."

"Then we keep this to ourselves." Elizabeth decided. "Think about who the infiltrator could be and brief Rodney on the situation. Unless you think he could be the infiltrator?"

"No more than any of us." Harry shrugged easily. Harry let them grill him on questions for almost an hour in their closed session before he faked a headache and slipped out of the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That evening**

Harry knocked on the door in the quarters for the medical members of the expedition with two plates of dinner balanced on his left arm. He was still dressed in normal expedition gear and he grinned at the young woman who opened the door for him. "Am I early for our date?" He asked with a grin.

"This is not a date, Harry, you playboy." Olivia rolled her eyes and moved aside. She was wearing a simple dress, comfort over appearance but it still looked nice enough to point out.

"You look nice." Harry complimented. Olivia had asked him for dinner a week ago and Harry had agreed remembering that he'd promised Jessica that he'd keep an eye on her out here.

"Jessica warned me about you." Olivia smiled and gestured to the table. Harry put down the meals, pulled cutlery out of his pocket and pulled out her seat.

"Please don't tell her that almost nine weeks have gone by and we've only done this three times." Harry winced. "She'd castrate me."

"That she would." Olivia smiled and sat down. Harry circled the table and sat himself down too. "I got a message from her a few days ago. She's doing okay but she misses you. She wanted me to tell you to look after yourself."

"Don't I always?" Harry asked.

"According to her, no." She laughed. "According to the old expedition it's been pretty quiet around here for the last few weeks."

"Baring the weird and wonderful." Harry laughed genuinely, enjoying his last chance to be this way. "How are things with your research?"

"Oh god, so great." Olivia's grin could beam sunlight into the room. "Even ignoring all the expedition experiments I've come so far in the work I was doing before. Carson is great for looking into all of our own work and putting group time aside for it all."

"Carson is good." Harry nodded. "I do have to ask though. If something were to happen to me, what would you do?"

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

"Would you stay here or go home?" Harry asked.

"If we're going to be so morbid then I supposed I'd like to stay here but I'd have to see how Jessica handles it." Olivia pointed out. "She'd probably go to pieces if anything happened to either of us."

"I do have a favour to ask of you." Harry sighed and put down his cutlery. "Jessica is really the only family I have left. I think it's the same for you."

"It is." She nodded.

"She's my next of kin but when we left to return I put in the stipulation that if anything happened to me you were to be sent back to Earth to be the one to tell her." Harry sighed. "At least that way I know she has someone with her when she finds out."

"I've seen her when she gets it into her head that you're missing in action or something like that." She nodded. "It's probably best this way. She really loves you. There's obviously something about you that draws people in. She adores you, I'm even starting to like you and the expedition members listen to every word you say."

"That's so sweet!" Harry grinned mockingly.

"Granted half of the scientists are scared of you. Most of them don't even believe half of what is said about you!" She laughed.

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"That you used to assassinate people for a living." She suggested.

"Well if by living you mean for the United States Air Force then yes." Harry smirked.

"That you single handedly took out an entire Wraith Hive ship." Harry nodded. "And can create storms big enough to destroy the city."

Harry felt a stab in his head and rubbed at the bridge of his nose until it faded. "That's how I destroyed the Wraith Ship." Harry pointed out not commenting on the city part.

"Nobody's seen you so much as move the wind though." Olivia pointed out. "Half the old expedition is trying to convince us it can be done. If it wasn't for the fact we all had to sign separate clearance forms to know about it we wouldn't believe them."

Harry shrugged. "I just don't feel like it right now and it's not like I've needed to. I've only been offworld twice since getting back."

"At least you've been out of this city." Olivia pointed out.

"Think of it this way you're up for the Skirmish on the mainland in a few weeks." Harry grinned and she groaned. The exercise that Harry had created had become known as the Skirmish and it was well known that the better you were at survival the worse it was. The Marines dreaded it and the scientists were merely terrified of it after the stories the Marines told them. In truth Harry went easy on the scientists but he wasn't going to make it pleasant. "When you due to visit Earth?"

"In four months." She laughed. "Jessica's going to maim you if you don't see her by then."

"I'm not due any free time for three months and I doubt I'll even take that. It's a long time sitting in the Daedalus." Harry shrugged.

"But it's two weeks with Jessica." Olivia pointed out.

Harry didn't comment, he knew it was all a moot point. There were evacuation routines in place and hopefully Elizabeth would use them in time and the Daedalus would pick up the remains and take them home safe and sound but Harry didn't think he'd be among them whether he completed his mission or failed it.

After Harry finished the meal he looked over the room and turned to Olivia. "Make sure all of your emergency gear is by the door so you can get to it." He reprimanded.

"It gets in the way and I trip over it." Olivia sighed before nodding. "Fine slave driver."

"Olivia, I promised Jessica I'd keep you alive. You're family to me, my only family. I want you to be safe." Harry frowned at her knowing that he regretted a few people being in the city. John and Olivia among them. He'd originally planned it so that Olivia and John were on the mainland doing the Skirmish but with the Daedalus so close... "Goodnight, Olivia."

Olivia hugged him goodbye but Harry couldn't really return it properly. He spent the evening sitting on the balcony preparing himself mentally and was still rather out of it when John snuck in and curled up with him in bed. He'd probably assume it was just Harry's life coming back to get him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

Harry did his pre-flight checks the next morning with everyone else and he noted dryly that with Brokewell back on Earth Adder flight was not only more efficient at their jobs but faster as well. It went to show what good leadership, or lack of bad leadership, can do to a group of soldiers. He ordered Viper flight outside and Adder flight inside before they all headed away to their duties for the day. It was raining but Harry didn't particularly mind getting wet as he moved his Viper outside into the rain.

Either way it was time. He headed outside after saying goodbye to the others and down through the city to the shield generator. The door was kept locked but Harry had spent weeks before and since their time on Earth learning about ancient technology and he was able to take apart the door control, isolate it from the sensor grid and open it manually. He slipped inside with his gear and went about with C4. Rodney had inadvertently told him exactly how to booby trap the shield generator with some well placed questions and allowing the man to run off about ancient technology for hours at a time. Harry understood the technology better than all of the other Marines. If the shield generator went up it would overload and take the city with it since the ZPM was connected directly to it.

It was his back up if he couldn't do it his preferred way. At least with the preferred way the expedition could evacuate to the mainland.

Harry walked through the corridors armed with a Wraith stunner pistol and a backpack of his gear towards the closest generator station. He slipped inside and checked his life signs detector. There were a few people below him but this station was a little out of the way and he had the access code for the door lock. He slipped inside and went to work. With the generators tied into the main power link he'd used Rodney's planning to realise that two of them overloading would back up the power supply and blow the city. Even just one would set off an explosion large enough to send Atlantis to the bottom of the ocean and since the Wraith were unaware that Atlantis was still there they wouldn't go looking for it.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Ten minutes later**

John looked around sharply as he walked with Ronan and Teyla through the control tower. They'd been training together. The alarm rang through the air and John hit his radio. "Report!" He ordered.

"_Overload detected in Generator four."_ The control room told him.

"All Marines, general stations!" John ordered and broke into a run, all tiredness from his training vanishing. The three ran through the corridors to the generator just as two Marines, pegged for its protection arrived in full gear. John opened the door as he drew his pistol that he'd worn since Harry had briefed them on the Wizarding threat as the door slid open. The Marines moved into the doorway to take on defensive postures but Ronan snapped up a fist to halt them even though they weren't in danger of crossing the threshold. At head height, waist height and six inches above the ground were pads with invisible laser trip wires.

John cursed and crouched down as the Marines eyed the situation. There were wires leading from the top and bottom ones to the middle one where a small block of C4 sat. "Shit." John cursed. "All units, we have traps set up on generator four." John said into the radio.

"_Colonel?"_ Elizabeth asked. _"Can you get to the generator and shut it down?"_

"_Overload detected on Generator one!"_ A voice called from the control room.

"Stackhouse, Torrow, report!" John called but got no answer. "Major Potter, where are you?"

"_Coming up on Generator one, Stackhouse and Torrow are down. Stunned by the looks of it."_

John frowned and Teyla and Ronan saw his look. "Take care, we've got traps on the door."

"_Got it, Colonel."_ Harry confirmed.

John frowned. Why had Harry gone there and not here especially knowing that there was a Magical threat here? He turned to Teyla and Ronan. "Go to generator one and give Harry a hand."

They frowned at him but nodded even as John went about disarming the trap.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry spotted two of the life signs with John heading his way and cursed. If he was here when they arrived he'd get tied down. Ronan and Teyla didn't know enough about C4 traps and naquada generators to disarm it so it would take time to get someone here than could. He couldn't start the self destruct on his own but he could lock down the city and stop anyone else from getting to the generator to disable it.

He jogged through the corridor past Marines that didn't stop him and up into the control room. Along with Elizabeth there were four people at the consoles. They turned to glance at him but only Elizabeth kept focusing on him. He walked towards her. "Harry?" She frowned. "What about...?"

She didn't managed to finish before Harry brought the Wraith stunner down on the side of her head. She crumpled and Harry stepped into the door even as somebody called out in panic. He shot the two Marines and they went down stunned before he turned to the four techs and shot them one after the other. He heard one of them hit his radio and call an alert but no more information was given. He moved to the main security console and typed in his twenty digit authorisation code and activated the lockdown of the city. All of the internal main doors slammed shut.

"You were the last person I thought it might have been." John's voice made Harry whip around and aim his pistol. "I figured it out when Ronan and Teyla told me you weren't there. Only you, me, or one of the demo experts could pull off those traps."

Harry didn't say anything and just circled one of the consoles, eyeing John's normal pistol. "What's the point in this, Harry?" John asked.

Harry still didn't say anything but twisted forwards to put John's aim off, he threw himself at John, twisted them around to disarm him. John was no push over but when it came to martial arts Harry could overcome him with ease. Harry disarmed him and slammed the pistol over his head and then threw it to the side.

It was then that Harry realised that not only had he heard John's voice across the room but also in his earpiece, he'd broadcast it. _"Colonel Sheppard?"_ Major Lorne called. _"We're two corridors away. We've got Doctor McKay with us."_

Harry sighed and decided he'd have to drop down to his last pre-planned attempt although there was still something he could do. He moved out into the corridor and just as Lorne got a door open Harry fired and dropped the Marine about to move through, slamming a Wraith blast into him. A wraith blast streaked past his ear but Harry kept out of sight, he wouldn't have to keep them at bay for long but even as he waited the alarm for the lock down quieted and he heard people report in that the generators were safe again.

Harry crossed the corridor into one of the meeting rooms and out onto the balcony even as Lorne and his team rushed after him. He leapt off the edge of the balcony narrowly missing a wraith blast, twisted and grabbed a rope secured to the bottom of the balcony that he'd dropped earlier that day for just this situation. He slid down it ten floors and onto a larger balcony and crossed through the tower using the life signs detector to find his way around the patrols but soon the lock down seemed to apply only to him and the marines were being brought straight to him. He could still get the drop on them and he downed quite a few of them either with his wraith stunner or with his own body.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Control room**

"Are you alright, Elizabeth?" Carson asked as he held a pad to the back of her head. She nodded and stood up.

"Harry did this?" Doctor Olivia Fletcher asked. "That's not possible."

"Oh, he did it alright." John sounded cold to Elizabeth but then again she saw another kind of pain in his eyes. Betrayal. More so than the rest of them.

"Why?" She asked.

"Whatever this is its planned." John looked at Elizabeth. "It must be what they warned us about but he's probably been rushed into action by the Daedalus."

"You think he'd take orders from them?" Elizabeth asked.

"No." John shook his head.

"Colonel, he's heading out into the North Pier." Chuck told them. "He's moving through the doors like we're not even closing them."

"How long's he been planning this?" Rodney asked grumpily.

"Since Earth." John frowned looking at Elizabeth. He thumbed his radio. "All units, this is Colonel Sheppard. Major Potter is heading for the Viper bay, follow orders to intercept but be cautious. Major Potter is highly trained and experienced. Ronan, Teyla try to get in front of him."

"Can't he hear you?" Rodney asked.

"Do you have a way to stop him from listening?" John asked. "We don't have time to spread a new frequency by word of mouth."

"_Colonel Sheppard, do we have permission to shot to kill."_ Captain Forks requested. _"We're engaging him now."_

John looked to the others but responded with his own decision. "Stay non-lethal, Captain unless your lives are at risk."

"Colonel." Elizabeth frowned even as Forks confirmed the order. "We may have to accept that we have to shoot to kill."

"I know that, Elizabeth." John snapped. "But at the moment he's shooting to wound or stun only. He hasn't killed anyone yet."

"So he doesn't want to?" Rodney asked.

"That's not necessarily true." John sighed. "He knows that we'll keep our attacks non-lethal just as long as he does. If he ups the level then so will we and he won't last long if all of the Marines are shooting to kill."

"Perhaps we should consider upping the level to prevent him from doing so first?" Elizabeth didn't sound like she wanted to do that.

"Except that Harry is better at killing than anyone in this city. If we get to that point we'll lose half of our forces before somebody takes him out." John sighed.

"Can you talk him down?" Doctor Fletcher asked. "This is Harry we're talking about. He can't want to kill us all."

"He might not be in control of his actions." Elizabeth pointed out. "Remember what he said. These people have the ability to take control of thoughts and decisions."

"These people?" Carson asked.

"An organisation on Earth that have powers similar to Harry's ability to control the weather." John explained.

"Wait!" Rodney called. "If he wants to destroy the city why not just call up a massive storm and do it that way?"

"I asked him about that yesterday." Doctor Fletcher spoke up. "About the fact he hadn't done it for months. He just said he didn't need to but he got this really bad headache. I was about to get him a painkiller but he pretended nothing was wrong."

"Maybe whatever is controlling him can't control his ability?" Elizabeth suggested.

_But still proclaim feelings for me and have a relationship._ John thought to himself and almost gave away the pain he was feeling. Had he been blinded by their relationship and missed all the signs?

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry watched the two figures waiting just inside of the hanger bay. He'd taken out a dozen of the Marines and knew they were closing in behind him but he knew perfectly well that he was a slippery person to catch even if they had sensors on him. The two in front of him though were waiting for him but he had to go through them. He stepped into the hanger but didn't see them until Ronan was leaping at him. He rolled out of the way dropping the Wraith stunner. He reached down and drew out his Sai and spun them in his hands even as Teyla appeared to one side.

"Harry, don't do this." Teyla tried. "You don't want to hurt anyone. We know you're not yourself."

Harry moved to his right slowly to put Teyla and Ronan on his same side before he dashed to the right suddenly, dove up and onto the top of a package crate of supplies for the X-304s and from there leapt across to another one and then dropped down out of sight. Teyla and Ronan rushed into the small maze of crates after him but Harry slipped around them until he managed to separate them and dropped down behind Teyla and pulled her back to his chest with one of his Sai across her throat.

She froze up just as Harry brought his other Sai hilt down on her temple sending her crumbling down to the ground. He barely got a warning before Ronan was leaping over her and lashing out. Harry blocked with his arms and sliced down Ronan's upper arm. Ronan pulled back but harry realised as they fought that Ronan was delaying him until the Marines could arrive.

Ronan frowned as Harry changed his tactics and he only just managed to dodge Harry's Sai aimed for his stomach. Harry had gone from trying to knock Ronan out to trying to kill him and the change from their normal fights was hard for the man to keep up with when he didn't really want to kill Harry in turn. Harry lashed out with a foot that met Ronan's stomach and then seeing his opportunity spun and released both of his Sai. Ronan managed to twist back out of the way of one but the other slammed into his right shoulder and right through and impaled Ronan onto one of the wooden crates stacked behind him, pinning him to it.

Harry assessed the situation before turning his back on the man. He didn't need to kill him anymore. Harry dropped a strip of explosive into the door mechanism on his way out and as he left through the cracked open doors the mechanism blew, jamming the doors in place. He quickly disabled the other three Vipers before jumping up into his own. He slammed the top shut and hit the power just as Lorne rushed out onto the launch pad. His Viper leapt up off of the ground, spun even as Lorne aimed up with his P-90 and ordered them to open fire. His order was heard by the Viper's listening gear. Harry hit one of the countermeasures and canisters of smoke and flash bangs flew from the hull, covering his departure with smoke and setting off bright flashes and loud bangs to disorientate the eight Marines aiming at him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Control room**

John watched as the icon for the X-304 slid rapidly away from the city. He knew there was no point heading for a Jumper, not only could he not catch up in time to use a drone but Harry would just spin around and shoot him out of the air. He could use the cloak to sneak up on him but those Vipers were just so fast. They still surprised John.

"Harry, I don't know if you're even listening but I want you to stand down." John told him. "Please, Harry. We shouldn't be fighting." He knew he sounded desperate but there was something in the eyes of everyone around him that told him they were just as bad. They had fifteen Marines down in the infirmary either wraith stunned or knocked out by blows. Teyla was on her way up to them with a small cut on her neck. Five techs were stunned and worst so far was Ronan who had one of Harry's Sai through his shoulder. Carson was working on him at the moment.

What worried him was that according to Ronan he'd shifted part way through the fight, all emotion had vanished from his face and Ronan had been hard pressed to survive, knowing full well that a single mistake would cost him his life. Obviously stunning Ronan hadn't been an option and something had kicked in to force Harry to do more.

"What's he going to do next?" Lorne asked coming up beside him.

"I don't know, Major."

"Sir, I don't like my men going up against him. They don't like it." Lorne shook his head.

"I don't like it either." John shook his head before reaching for his radio. "Viper-two, what's your report?"

"_It's a no go." _Captain Bennett told him_. "Whatever the Major did to our craft they won't start up. We're looking but the Major knows these down to the individual wires, same as us. It'll take time to find the problem."_

"What of Adder flight?" John asked.

"_They work but the hanger doors are shut tight." _Bennett sighed._ "He blew the mechanism and the doors are too strong to take down without using enough C4 to damage the 304s."_

"So we're defenceless?" John asked everyone in general.

"We've got the shield if he tries to attack us." Rodney pointed out.

John looked at Elizabeth who frowned back at him. John turned to Rodney and Lorne. "Take a team and check out the Shield Generator and the ZPM room, check for traps. The Major knows what we'd do and he's tripped us up enough times already."

Lorne nodded and took men with him as he dragged Rodney away. "John..." Elizabeth moved to his side. "Whatever is happening, this isn't Harry."

"I know that!" John snapped rubbing at his shoulder where Harry had bitten him the last time they'd had sex three days ago. "But how much of the last few months was Harry?"

"He's been himself, John." She assured him. "We'd have noticed if he hadn't. You said it yourself, he's only been acting weird the last few days. Something was controlling him subtly, making him prepare for this and only kicked in completely when we got that message."

"I hope you're right." John sighed.

"Sir! We've lost the X-304 on sensors." Chuck reported.

"We could really use the Daedalus right now." John grumbled.

"_Colonel Sheppard, this is Major Lorne. We've got heavy traps in the shield generator."_ Lorne reported.

"Fuck!" John swore off radio before touching the radio. "Can you clear it?"

"_It's wired right into the generator and it's got more trips on it then I've ever seen. If we power the generator it'll explode, if we tamper with it it'll explode. I've called Lieutenant Cadman. She's the only one we have able to take this apart." _Lorne reported. _"I'll give you a time till clear once she arrives."_

"Thank you, Major." John sighed before looking at Elizabeth. "I suggest we activate the evacuation procedure to the mainland."

"You mean the one that Harry set up?" Elizabeth frowned.

"Meaning he knows we can get people out of the city." John nodded. "He only wants the city gone."

Elizabeth looked at Chuck. "Start the evacuation."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry skimmed the surface of the ocean as he used the curvature of the Earth to his benefit knowing from the previous exercise exactly when the city would spot him if he kept low to the surface. He'd picked up the heavy anti-ship missile that were slated to be used against the Wraith ships and reloaded it. His plan was to take out the central tower so that the city would become a ghost. With it headless he could set off one of the generators or failing that set off his own Ion core in the hanger bay. The explosion would sink the city.

Atlantis came into view and he locked onto the control tower and armed the missile. The shield didn't come up when they spotted him but his system saw five of the Jumpers head up into the air. At least they'd have a way to evacuate the rest of the city. He pressed the trigger and banked hard right as the missile streaked away towards the city. He craned his head as he skimmed the outer edge of his targeting system and was watching when a flash of light exploded over the missile and it vanished.

Harry rolled the ship and dodged even as rail bullets slammed into the water around him. He rolled and lifted off of the deck as he came under attack and slammed into full speed straight at Atlantis. The incoming fire stopped clear of the city and he raced into the air using the backdrop of the city to prevent the ship in space from firing at him. He hit the black to see the Daedalus trying to move enough to fire at him without its rail fire hitting the city but Harry followed even as he spotted Cobra flight launching from the closest bay doors. Four F-302s launched from the other and Harry cursed and activated his scram missiles.

He punched right toward the Daedalus knowing that he only had to get into range. He'd been prepared for the Daedalus to be early even if he hadn't expected it this time and when he was within range he sent the pulse to the sabotage he'd done the last time the Daedalus had been in orbit over Atlantis. He watched in satisfaction as the engines and shields died and the Daedalus started to drift.

Harry twisted violently even as he fired countermeasures to confuse the Cobras hot on his tail but he knew the moment they went from defending the Daedalus to stopping him from getting to the city when they locked on. Harry pulled up and skimmed the atmosphere as they fired and when the missiles were in pursuit he barrel-rolled and pitched down into a particularly steep re-entry. The missiles exploded behind him as they tried to break through the atmosphere but they weren't designed for re-entries and were blown apart.

Harry went into a steep dive straight down at the city so that by the time the Cobras got through the atmosphere and could target him again he was too close to the city for them to fire at him. He knew it must look like he was going to slam through the city but he twisted at the last moment, slamming so close to the control tower that they must have felt the shockwave as he reversed his thrusters and landed hard on the flight pier. The Cobras slammed over the city and nearly went vertical again as they opened their wings to slip through the city.

Harry got clear of his Viper as fast as possible but saw the guys working on the other Vipers. Iain stared at him in shock but they were all hiding after the shockwave that had accompanied his heavy landing. He pulled up his P-90 that he had thus far not used and Iain dove for cover even as Harry put a bullet through the hanger door sending the people there away. Two Marines rushed out with their own P-90s and Harry shot them both in the shoulders sending them sprawling backwards.

"Harry!" Iain yelled. Harry ignored him and rushed through the hanger before more guards could arrive. John was too good though and there were too many Marines converging on him. He moved away from the patrols but only ended up being pushed higher and higher up one of the towers and knew there was no way out. He could hear Marines rushing up after him, closing in as he got up onto the ring way around the top. He crossed to the other end and finally something changed in his mission.

He was supposed to be using all available methods to destroy the city of Atlantis but his mission didn't tell him to kill people and he really didn't want to. Now though the last part of his mission flooded his mind. If he couldn't do it remove any evidence. Kill himself.

"Harry, stop!" John's voice came from behind him and there was a scuffle on both sides of him as Marines took up positions on both sides of the tower roof. John was right behind him. Harry turned to look at him with dead eyes and John gasped at the white sheen that covered the normally green irises. "Harry, come back to us." John pleaded but only ended up with Harry's P-90 aimed at his chest.

John leaned down and put his own gun on the floor even though with eight Marines at his back aiming at Harry it made no difference whether John was armed or not. "You can't get away from here, Harry. It's over. Let us help."

Harry stepped backwards and before any of the others could realise what was happening he had disappeared below the lip. John ran to the edge but could only watch as Harry plummeted fifteen floors to his death. Harry had once told him that he could glide but there wasn't any wind around so he wasn't even trying to save himself. There was no rope like the last time, just Harry plummeting to his death.

John gasped as Harry's body burst into light and vanished. John sagged back onto his knees and the other Marines breathed out in relief. _"John, Daedalus has got him, he's been disarmed. They'll beam him down into our holding cells. Meet me there. We've got a guest coming down with him."_

"Colonel?" Lorne asked him worriedly. "What are we going to do?"

"Find out why he did it." John said emotionlessly, dreading the worst. "Start a sweep of the city, check every vital system for traps."

"Yes, Sir." Lorne snapped to and began issuing orders through the radio.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Ten minutes later**

John walked into the holding room with its cage in the middle of the room, there was a very faint buzz in the air so he knew that it was running. John understood why Harry was down here and not up on the Daedalus. Harry was the sort of person that had gotten out of worst prisons than the Daedalus' locked rooms. Harry couldn't get out of an Ancient shield though. Harry was standing in the centre of the cell staring blankly at the door where John had just walked in from but he didn't move a muscle. He seemed to be at parade rest and he looked just as cold as when he'd put Brokewell down for the count except there was no anger in his eyes, just a white sheen over his eyes.

Elizabeth was standing between the door and the cage along with Colonel Caldwell and a woman that John didn't recognise wearing Daedalus fatigues. There were eight Marines in the room, all armed and ready.

"John." Elizabeth greeted him, turning to look at her.

"Elizabeth." John nodded. "Colonel, good timing."

"We were advised to misrepresent our time of arrival." Caldwell gave the woman between him and Elizabeth a strange look.

"Perhaps we can have a few minutes alone?" The woman asked Elizabeth. "I am aware that not many of you will have the proper clearance to be here."

John frowned but shrugged. "I'm armed and that shield isn't going anywhere any time soon." Elizabeth nodded and John turned to Sergeant Stackhouse, newly awake from being stunned first off. "Clear the room, Sergeant." Stackhouse glanced at Harry in concern but it seemed to be more for Harry than the safety of John and the others. He nodded though and left the room, all of the others following him out.

"You must be Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard." The woman smiled. "My name is Hermione Granger. I'm a liaison to the British Military. I briefed Colonel Caldwell on the voyage over but suffice to say I ensure the protection of military assets and places of importance again Magical attacks. Doctor Weir explained that Harry explained it all to you very briefly."

"Why did he do that?" John frowned. "If he was going to attack us why even give us a hint?"

"Because it didn't endanger him." Hermione frowned. "Whether you knew of magic or not didn't matter at that moment. I imagine he was more worried about you suspecting him."

"What's wrong with him?" John demanded. "That's not Harry in there. Harry would never attack this city. Not after all of the blood he's lost defending it. Not with his friends here."

"I never imagined that Harry would make friends again. Then he did in the RAF and lost him. Luna assured me otherwise though." She sighed. "I grew up with Harry after he turned eleven and was sent to our boarding school. I was there when he lost his ability to control magic and I tried to argue when they sent him away. I'm a little glad he did leave actually. This is a truly amazing experience. Wizards could never dream of exploring the stars. That's why they did this, you see? To stop Muggles like yourselves from advancing to where you threaten their livelihoods. They don't really understand that you already do."

"So what happened!" John snapped and Elizabeth shot him a calming look. "Why did the Major try to destroy us all and then try to kill himself?"

"For the second part I imagine it was because he knew of no other way to achieve his task." Granger sighed. "As for how this happened I will have to explain something."

"What?" Elizabeth asked. "A concept of magic?"

"Exactly." Granger nodded. "There are spells that are illegal to even us because of what they do. When Harry was fourteen one of our professors taught him to overcome a particular spell and Harry showed an unparalleled ability to fend off the effect of this spell. What it does is completely take control of your mind. Forces you to carry out the wishes of the caster."

"And that's what he's under?" John asked desperately.

"It is illegal because he can be made to pick up a gun and shoot somebody he loves, his own son for example." Granger sighed. "But he became resistant to it after enough practice to the point that he could throw it off with barely a thought."

"So why now?" John asked.

"Because to fight it off you need magic." Granger sighed. "Without it there is no defence. I know the spell. I could cast it on you now and make you shoot yourself in the head and you wouldn't stand a chance. Before Harry killed Voldemort, the man that murdered his parents, his men would use it on normal people, make them kill their own families, force them to rape and murder. Sometime when Harry was on Earth the last time he was caught by Wizards and they cast the spell on him and ordered him to destroy Atlantis and if he failed kill himself to prevent them being found out."

"Can you free him from it?" John asked.

"There is no simple wave of the wand cure for it." Granger shook her head. "But what I can do is allow his unconscious mind to access some magic in order to fight it. It used to be done often after raids in the war."

"Elizabeth?" John asked. She nodded. "Do it." He ordered Granger.

She nodded and pulled something out of her sleeve. John recognised it from Harry's brief explanation. It was her wand. "Wait." John stopped her. "How much will he remember?"

"Every moment." She told him. "Every decision he made will seem like his own. It's horrible." She winced. "Especially if he chose to kill."

"He didn't kill anyone." John told her before nodding worried that Harry would believe that his decision to be with John was only because of the spell. Then again John and Harry had kissed for the first time before returning to Earth so there was that.

She moved to the edge of the cage and lifted her wand. Harry didn't even flinch as a ball of white light grew on the end of her wand before drifting unaffected through the shield on the bars and settled into Harry's chest. Harry started shaking immediately and sweat formed on his forehead as his eyes took on a panicked look. Before a desperate one.

"No! Get out!" Harry hissed. "Who are you!?"

"Harry?" John asked and as if Harry's strings had been cut he fell to his knees and hung his head so low that John could see between Harry's shoulder blades. Harry's body trembled but he didn't say anything.

"Granger?" Caldwell asked.

She muttered something as she waved her wand and bit her lip. "He's no longer under the power of the spell." She lifted her wand and smaller ball of white light flew back to her wand and vanished. She slid the wand back up her sleeve. "It took him less magic than I expected. Like I said though he had no chance without any magic."

"Harry?" John tried but got no answer. "You're sure he's free?"

"He is." Granger nodded.

John moved to the wall and hit the switch that lowered the force shield and opened the door to the cage. Caldwell and Elizabeth said nothing as John entered the holding cell and crouched in front of Harry. "Look up at me please, Harry." John tried but Harry's shoulders just shook and John realised he was sobbing.

"Colonel?" Elizabeth caught his attention formally. "I'm going to go explain some of this to the expedition. I'll say it was some sort of alien technology he came into contact with on Earth. See him back to his rooms."

"I'd better leave too." Granger sighed and John watched as Harry flinched at the sound of her voice. "We were friends once but that was in another life time. I'll only complicate matters."

John waited for everyone to leave and the door to shut before he reached out and touched Harry's shoulder. "You're free, Harry. Please look at me." Harry ignored him. "God, please, Harry. It's been heartbreaking today. I need to see your eyes again. Please."

Harry looked up slowly, his red rimmed eyes looking into John's. His eyes were so full of emotion. More emotion than John had seen since the last time they'd had sex. "I didn't..." Harry whispered. "I couldn't..."

"What, Harry?" John pressed.

"I didn't even realise I was under someone else's control." Harry sobbed, crumpling again. "I thought it was my choice to kill you all. I was going to destroy Atlantis to protect Earth. That's what they told me to do."

"Who, Harry?" John prompted.

"I don't know." Harry looked at him. "I'd only just woken up in the hospital and they walked into my room. I should have told someone about it. I knew what they were but I didn't think to tell anyone."

"It's alright now, Harry. It wasn't you that did any of that. I was all them." John sighed.

"I was a puppet John." Harry gasped and sat back. "I don't want to be like that again."

"And you won't be." John told him. "Let's get you out of here."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

John had stayed with Harry for the entire night even though Harry spent it sitting out on the balcony. John talked and Harry just stared out into the darkness trying to think things through. In the morning John went down to visit Ronan in the infirmary and Harry got showered and changed and headed up to the control room. For a change he wasn't armed, not even with his Sai since he thought they were probably in the armoury after one of them had been taken out of Ronan's shoulder.

The control room went utterly silent as they spotted him and Harry paused in the doorway as they all stared at him. Chuck was the first to get back to work after nodding at Harry gently but the other four technicians and scientists eyed him suspiciously, they were new members of the expedition. And to make matters worse he hadn't actually done anything to these guys.

He moved through the control room and down into Elizabeth's office and knocked on the door. She looked up, smiled weakly and gestured him inside. Opposite her sat a woman that Harry hadn't seen for almost five years. "Hermione." Harry stayed near the door.

She stood up quickly and smiled at him. "Harry, it's so good to see you again, regardless of the situation." Harry just nodded not really having anything he wanted to say to Hermione who smiled gently regardless. "Luna and Neville are anxious for you to meet Hannah."

"I'm not the best person to be her godfather, Hermione." Harry pointed out.

"As if that's going to work on them." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"How long are you here for?" Harry asked.

Hermione sighed, defeated. "Just today, I'm to take the Gate back tomorrow. It's taken two weeks to get here. I'd have liked to see you a little but I understand you don't want much to do with our world any more. I don't really blame you but please, don't let that effect Hannah."

Harry nodded and Hermione turned and smiled at Elizabeth before heading for the door where she was met by Lieutenant Cadman. The Lieutenant braced for Harry but there was something nervous in her eyes. Harry had put bullets in two Marines after all.

Harry sighed and sat down opposite Elizabeth. "How are you feeling today, Harry? You don't look like you've slept much."

"Didn't Colonel Sheppard report to you that I was up all night?" Harry asked.

"He also warned me that you're suddenly calling him Colonel again in private." Elizabeth frowned.

"How many times did I just try to kill him, Elizabeth?" Harry asked. "Be glad I'm even calling you by your first name. It's bad enough I hit you on the head and knocked you out but I put one of my Sai through Ronan's shoulder and put bullets in two of my own Marines."

"That wasn't your fault." She pointed out.

"I made the choices, mislead as I was." Harry shook his head. "It feels like I've just changed my mind. For months I've felt like I wanted to destroy this city."

"It'll take a little bit of time I'm sure." Elizabeth frowned.

"I'm resigning my post, Doctor Weir." Harry told her formally. "Both as Squadron Commanding Officer and as Head of Security. And my place here in Atlantis."

"Harry..." Elizabeth gasped.

"Elizabeth. Everyone I've seen today can't even look at me straight." Harry sighed. "The people here break down into two groups, the old expedition and the new. The old guys trusted me and I've betrayed them. The new guys never really knew me and I have nothing to offer them in way of a reassurance."

"They believe you were exposed to an alien device."

"The Colonel told me." Harry nodded. "But in my head I still tried to kill them and they know it. Someone in my position needs to be a reassurance for the expedition. Someone that they trust to be strong enough to overcome everything. I can't be that person anymore."

"Harry, this isn't the way it should go. Give me a chance to sort this out." She tried.

"It doesn't really matter anyway, Doctor Weir." Harry sighed. "As soon as people hear about this on Earth I'll be relieved of my command and summoned back to Earth for an inquiry. Too many people high up in the US don't like the fact I've done so well when I'm not even from the States. Better I resign than let them have their way."

"Is there nothing I can say to stop you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Like I said the expedition wont trust me now. Maybe I can do some good somewhere in a jungle on Earth." Harry told her.

"Is that what you want, Harry?" Elizabeth pressed. "Do you want to leave here?"

"God, Elizabeth." Harry shook his head. "Atlantis has become my home. I don't want to leave her but I tried to destroy her! I can't work beside the other members of this team when people will only mistrust me."

"Alright, Harry." Elizabeth sighed. "I suppose I can understand that. Just take some time on Earth. I know that I can't force you to come back but you'll be missed. People will get over it. I just hope we don't need you before you come back."

"I'll let the Marines know over the military frequency. Captain Bennett will be able to run the X-304s well enough." Harry told her.

"We'll miss you, Harry." Elizabeth told him. "Some of the new expedition members won't miss you but all the older ones believe you to be a part of this city just as John is. You've been protecting us for too long and we all know that without you we'd probably all be dead several times over. You might have tried to destroy the city against your will but you saved the city and the members of the expedition several times. Once getting yourself captured and twice almost killing yourself using your abilities."

"You can't always keep yourself up in the air on your past accomplishments, Elizabeth." Harry sighed before standing up. "I'll be ready to go tomorrow."

Elizabeth winced but nodded. Harry slipped out into the corridor and down into the Gateroom since he didn't have a radio of his own at the moment. He didn't really deserve to be part of the expedition. "Corporal Howitz, could I borrow your radio?" Harry asked as the four Marines in the Gateroom saw him and braced up. Howitz nodded and took it off and handed it to him quickly. "This is Major Potter. I'd like to address everybody in a few minutes time." He said into the radio to get everyone's attention. This way anyone training or in barracks sleeping would be woken up and told to put on their radios to listen in. Howitz looked worried but they didn't say anything to him as Harry waited out the next two minutes.

As the two minutes went by Harry glanced up to see Elizabeth standing on the walkway watching him unhappily and by the fact there were five people in the control room watching him he knew that word would spread between the scientists as well. "I'll make this short so that everybody can get back to their jobs. I know that going against me in combat yesterday was difficult for many of you, especially those that I've helped in the past or have fought alongside. You all did very well to not let past friendships or loyalties get between yourselves and protecting the city." Harry paused. "I know however that you can't be lead by an officer you do not trust and in this city, in the Pegasus galaxy and so far away from home, you need leadership that you can trust. With the exception of the embarked flight I am not your senior commander and this will not unduly affect the way things are done in the near future. As of this moment I am relieving myself from my command duties and resigning my position on the Atlantis expedition." He heard gasps from the four Marines around him. "I'll be returning to Earth tomorrow. Captain Forks will replace me as head of security and Captain Bennett as Squadron Commander and Flight leader." Harry paused. "I never wanted to leave under these circumstances. I'd have happily died out here to protect you all. I wish you all the best of futures. Major Potter out."

Harry handed the radio back to a rather stunned Howitz who took it rather automatically as he stared at Harry. "Sir?" Howitz asked.

"Yes, Corporal?"

"You should stay, sir." Howitz told him.

"Thank you, Corporal, but not everyone here will agree with you and even if they did I'll be relieved of my command by those on Earth even if I don't resign my position myself."

"You should stay and fight them, Sir." Howitz told him. "Sir, we need you out here."

"I can't fight the Pentagon, Howitz." Harry told him sadly. "And I can't fight you all again like yesterday."

"We trust you, sir." Howitz assured him.

"You trusted me two days ago, Corporal, and I was planning on destroying the city then." Harry pointed out. "Get back to your duties."

"Sir..." Howitz looked troubled.

"You'll be fine, Corporal." Harry assured him. "Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and Captain Forks are excellent officers."

"Yes, sir." Howitz looked utterly defeated as Harry left the room garnering stares from everyone he passed in the corridor until he reached his rooms to start packing his few meagre belongings. The rest would come back on the next run from the Daedalus although he doubted it would be this run back.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That night**

Harry opened the door knowing from the knock who it was an knowing he was about to get yelled at. John stormed into his room and Harry shut and locked the door before moving to his bed and sitting against the headboard. John paced back and forth for almost five minutes before finally looking at him. "I don't want you leave." John told him simply.

"John, even if I don't resign my position here the top brass in the Pentagon are going to demand it." Harry sighed. "I tried to destroy the city."

"You were under magical control!" John argued.

"And they'll say that as a person experienced in the magical world I should have recognised it." Harry shrugged. "Maybe I should have."

"Is this what this is all about?" John snarled. "You're doubting yourself for not seeing it?"

"This is about having the trust of the people that are supposed to follow my orders, John." Harry snapped right back. "And your trust."

"I trust you!" John gasped moving closer. "I don't know if this feels like home without you here."

"I need to leave, John." Harry sighed. "I need to think. We only started together once I was under the spell. Where does that leave us?"

"I don't know, Harry." John sighed. "But you're not under it anymore and what do you feel?"

"I have to go back to Earth, John." Harry shook his head, putting off John's question for the time being. "They're going to demand it anyway, the IOA, the Pentagon and others. People want to see the Brit taken down a peg. They don't like the position I have over people like Brokewell."

"Do you want to be here?" John asked. "With us, in Atlantis? With me?"

"I want to be here, John. But I don't know whether I should be." He dropped his head.

"At least fight to come back." John whispered as he finally settled next to Harry on the bed. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Please." Harry whispered. "I don't want things to change with us. I..."

"You what?" John asked.

"I love you." Harry frowned as he said it. John's eyes widened before he grinned and pulled Harry down onto the bed with him and lay along his side.

"I love you too, Harry." John told him quietly. "I want you here so please fight to come back."

"I'll try." Harry promised.

"And forgive yourself." John told him before they both fell into silence.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

Harry pulled his holdall over his shoulder as the Gate dialled and he walked down towards the Gate taken by surprise to see dozens of the expedition there, almost all of the original expedition plus Iain, Claire, Alex, Hugh, Izzy and John from his flight. Harry glanced behind him as Elizabeth appeared with Hermione next to her and John behind them. John looked really depressed but Harry tried not to think about it too much. The Gate filled in with its normal whoosh and a second later the control room announced that they had a go ahead for transit.

Harry moved up to Iain. "Take good care of them, Iain." He told his friend.

"Of course." Iain smiled. Harry quickly smiled at Claire, Alex and the others before turning towards the gate. "Sir?" Iain called making him look back just in time to see the Viper brace up and salute. Claire and Alex copied him and then Adder flight did the same followed by every military person in the room. Harry swallowed before returning the salute and turning to Hermione who was staring at the Gate.

"First time through?" Harry asked.

"I'm always for new experiences." She shrugged.

Harry offered his arm before taking that last step, unable to look at anyone else. For a few seconds as he perceived it his world existed as a long tunnel before he was stepping out into the familiar Gate room of Star Gate Command on Earth. Hermione crumbled at his side and he held her up and then let her sit down. The Stargate shut down as a Lieutenant headed up towards him.

"Major Potter?" The man asked more out of courtesy than anything else. "Miss Granger."

"Lieutenant." Harry greeted as he helped a rather ill looking Hermione stand up.

"General Landry is waiting for you up in the briefing room." The Lieutenant informed him. "I'll take care of Miss Granger."

Harry gave Hermione a short farewell before heading up through the control room to the briefing room knowing that it was going to be a long few hours before he was released.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That evening**

Harry sat in the back seat of the taxi that had picked him up from his apartment and taken him to Jessica and Josh's house. Their cars were in the driveway so that was promising since Harry hadn't let them know he was even on Earth. He'd gone back to his dusty apartment to pick up some things but he had everything of importance in his holdall. He paid the driver and stepped out into the light drizzle and up to the door before ringing the bell.

The door opened just as Josh called something back over his shoulder that Harry missed. He turned back to the person on his doorstep to find himself looking at Harry. His eyebrows vanished and his mouth dropped open. Harry smiled and offered his hand which Josh took on autopilot. "Can I come in?" Harry asked when it was obvious that Josh wasn't planning on moving.

Josh laughed and moved out of the way, taking Harry's bag off of his shoulder and putting it at the bottom of the stairs. "Who is it, Josh?" Jessica shouted from the living room.

"The mailman!" Harry called back.

"He's a bit late..." She trailed off before the two men heard a scrambling before she ran into the hallway, spotted him and leapt at him. Harry caught her and hugged her back tightly. "Harry!" She cried right in his ear.

"Hey, love." Harry smiled at her when she pulled back.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Visiting?" Harry suggested. "I've got leave until my next assignment."

"Next assignment?" Josh frowned before leading the way into the living room. Harry sat down and leaned back into the comfortable cushions. "What happened with Atlantis?"

"Uh..." Harry frowned. "I resigned my position on the expedition. I expect they'll find me something else to do in a few weeks or so. I kind of told the General in charge of all offworld matters that I'd be staying with my next of kin. If that's alright?"

"Of course." Jessica leapt in. "You know you can always stay here, Harry."

"What happened to make you resign? You sounded like you loved that job." Josh frowned. "And you said..." Josh trailed off.

"I promised that I'd look after Olivia." Harry nodded with a sigh. "I tried to kill her."

"What!?" Jessica cried.

"Well I tried to destroy the city." Harry shrugged. "When I first woke up from my coma in the hospital two men walked in. They did something to me that made me have to follow their orders and then ordered me to destroy the city."

"How?" Josh frowned.

"That's classified." Harry frowned back. "Higher than what I got you in order to tell you about Atlantis."

"So what happened?" Josh asked.

"They countered it after I was captured by the Marines on base." Harry explained. "But it's hard to still work there when everybody looks at you differently. Josh, if it happened to you and you almost destroyed your precinct could you work there anymore?"

"Don't they need you though?" Jessica asked.

"I'm not sure right now whether they need me more than the damage having me there does to their sense of security." Harry shook his head. "I just need time to think and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather do that than here. If you'll have me."

"Of course, Harry." Josh assured him. "Any time."

"I imagine they'll have me do little things but General Hammond told me to take it easy." Harry shrugged. "But as much as I have friends in high places I've made some pretty serious enemies there too. Both for being a Brit in a high position and because I just knocked down one of the Captains under my command and had him shipped back to Earth for dangerous flying and bullying. They could make this entire situation far worse for me if they wanted to."

"Well you're welcome here any time." Jessica announced.

"Oh!" Harry winced. "I was being serious about the mailman bit. Olivia asked me to deliver this to you. No idea what it says and for once it hasn't been screened. Hand delivered and your clearance means you get a bit of privacy."

Jessica's face lit up at a letter from her sister. "How is she doing?"

"Her face lights up every time I ask her that question." Harry laughed. "She's loving it. Not to mention she's now set for life. If she leaves Atlantis she can probably get any job she applies for."

Jessica eyed the letter before looking up at Harry and then back to the letter. Josh laughed. "Harry, we're a little short of groceries. I was about to go get some when you arrived." Josh smiled at him as Harry caught on. "Would you mind helping me?"

"Of course!" Harry stood up. "Jessica can stay and read the letter." He added pushing Jessica back into her seat. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

Harry settled into the passenger seat of Josh's car a few minutes later and leaned his head back on the headrest. "How are you really?" Josh asked as he pulled back onto the road.

"It's true it was all out of my control but for the last few months I've been planning on destroying a place I now consider home and all of my friends there." Harry told him honestly. "I mean I was already under its influence when Jessica first saw me awake in the hospital."

"It?" Josh frowned. "You mean the Imperious Curse."

"What?" Harry turned to stare at him and his hand flinch.

"Knock that off, Harry." Josh half snapped before sighing. "Just because I know your name and my mother was a squib from England doesn't mean I give a damn."

"You know my name?" Harry frowned. "You never mentioned it."

"My mother died a few years back but her sister told her about you. Of course I didn't link you to that name because you're not the only person by that name." Josh shrugged. "But with that description I guessed."

"They didn't pick it up on the search." Harry muttered to himself making Josh laugh.

"You had them check up on me?" Josh asked in amusement.

"Jessy's like my sister." Harry frowned at him.

"They wouldn't track it because the Wizarding world sever all ties with squibs that leave their world. If they have children then they don't appear." Josh shrugged. "As far as any security search goes my mother moved here forty years ago and had me twenty-eight years ago. Beyond that they don't recognise it."

Harry rubbed at his nose. "Does Jessy know?"

"I never planned to tell her." Josh shook his head. "I've never had anything to do with that world, only the stories my mom used to tell me."

"Probably best." Harry shrugged. "You realise that's more classified than the Stargate program?"

"I figured that out from what you said." Josh nodded. "I knew the government knew."

"So does the militaries. The British military have entire divisions suited to fend them off." Harry nodded. "You alright with this?"

"I should be the one asking that." Josh laughed. "I'm the one with your sister."

"I trust you, Josh." Harry smiled. "All the same, I might just try to forget you told me that."

Josh laughed happily before glancing at him. "Do you always carry that?"

"What?" Harry frowned.

"The forty-five under your jacket." Josh rolled his eyes.

"It's a special operations pistol." Harry told him. "And yeah, I suppose I do. It's habit. It's surprising how much trouble I get into. You don't carry yours?"

"I still have a little faith in the world." Josh rolled his eyes. "Mine gets locked away in a safe as soon as I get home from work. Jessica knows not to touch it."

"She's seen this one enough times to know that rule." Harry shook his head. "And as for faith in the world I suppose I don't have that same faith in the world and better to have something to fight back with."

"As I understand it you don't need the pistol to fight back." Josh pointed out.

"That assumes I can get close enough to take them down with a knife or with martial arts." Harry commented.

"Knife, you have one of those too?" Josh asked. Harry motioned to the strap on his pistol harness where there was a hidden knife. Josh rolled his eyes. "And that wasn't what I meant. My mom told me how you killed Voldemort."

"Ah." Harry bit his lip and looked up at the sky. "I'll leave that as it is I suppose. It's a nice enough day."

"It's raining." Josh informed him blandly.

"I like rain." Harry laughed. "And even less people know about that than about magic so keep your mouth shut. You know I'm supposed to report you into the Pentagon for knowing about either of those things?"

"Are you going to?"

"And have somebody track you back to Jessica?" Harry scoffed. "Those Wizards found me in a coma in a military hospital when nobody knew I was there apart from the nurses and my friends."

"Here we are." Josh turned off of the road and into a parking space. Harry hopped out of the car and stretched.

"You know, I miss food shopping." Harry told Josh before looking at the crowd. "Or not."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Harry had been left alone for the first day but at four in the morning on the second night at Jessica's he got a call ordering him to report to Cheyenne Mountain and was told that a car would be there soon. He knocked on Josh and Jessica's room door and explained that he had to report in to Josh who nodded and waited up to see him picked up twenty minutes later.

The Sergeant driving him couldn't give him any details only that he was to escort Harry right up to the briefing room upon arrival. When he got there it was to find the new SG-1 and four Marines with SG-18 on their arms. Harry braced and saluted the General and then nodded to Cameron Mitchell and Samantha Carter.

"Take a seat, Major." The General ordered and Harry sat down. "You're the last to arrive." Harry didn't respond since that wasn't his fault. "Lieutenant Colonel Carter, why don't you start on your brief and then the Major can accept."

Harry raised his eyebrows but clearly the General expected him to accept so it had to be important. Carter stood up. "Fourteen hours ago SG-4 failed to report in at their allotted time. The UAV that we sent through picked up several minutes of video before being shot down."

"By what?" One of SG-18 asked.

"This." She said abruptly and clicked a remote at the screen. On it appeared a distinctive Goa'uld Ha'tak. As the video played a valley appeared under the Ha'tak before a gold light streaked from the Ha'tak and the signal was lost. "Since then the MALP is reporting that the area around the Stargate is clear but the valley under the Ha'tak is filled with Jaffa."

"What's the history?" The same Lieutenant of SG-18 asked.

"SG-4 was working with the indigenous people who were hit by the Prior-plague a few months ago." She explained. "We believe the Ha'tak to belong to the Lucian Alliance or perhaps a surviving Goa'uld. The UAV picked up SG-4s tracking signals."

"Thank you, Colonel." Landry nodded.

"We'll be sending in SG-1 and SG-18 to assess the situation. We'd prefer to do this without the Lucian Alliance realising it's us. If it's them." Landry explained. "Major Potter. We'd like you to go along to scout the situation."

"What about...?" Harry glanced at Daniel, Teal'c and SG-18 rather than finishing.

"Use of unconventional weapons is approved." Landry told him. "Actually it's why General O'Neill suggested you go along. The _Odyssey_ isn't available and we've nothing else capable of taking down that Goa'uld Ha'tak. Can you do that?"

"Take out a Ha'tak?" Harry frowned as SG-18 looked confused. "It's smaller than a Hive ship I suppose but it has shields."

"But we don't expect the shields to be running all the time." Carter pointed out.

"Then yes, I can destroy it, along with everyone on the ground but we'd have to ensure that SG-4 are safe first." Harry pointed out.

"I assume by that 'we' that you're accepting?" Landry asked.

"If the Pentagon trusts me, Sir." Harry said bluntly.

"Screw the Pentagon." Landry said abruptly. "They'll be some that argue but this is my operation. You're set to leave in thirty minutes. Colonel Mitchell? See that Major Potter is kitted out with whatever he wants. You've got the leadership but I'd suggest listening to the Major."

"Sir, I've saw him and his flight pick apart a dozen Death Gliders in minutes." Mitchell nodded. "I'll listen to him." Harry laughed and stood up and was soon following the man through the base.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Offworld**

Harry crouched as he exited the Stargate followed by SG-1 and then SG-18. Harry's P-90 followed his eyesight through the trees that surrounded the gate leaving very little cover. Just enough for the UAV to have gotten into the air. Harry stood as the wormhole shut down. "This is weird." Harry told the others.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"I've never been offworld in my own Galaxy." Harry laughed before looking around with a frown as SG-18 set up a perimeter. "I don't think the Ha'tak intends to stay long."

"Why do you think that?" Mitchell asked.

"Because there's only been two patrols of Jaffa through the area. Four man team about six hours ago and then again about three hours ago." Harry informed them crouching by a footprint. He'd never actually seen a Jaffa or a Ha'tak before but he knew what to look for. "Granted I don't know much about the Jaffa, by now I'm an expert of Wraith. Even so I'd say that if they were going to be here for the long run they'd have set up a more permanent defence at the Stargate or more frequent patrols."

"Major Potter is correct." Teal'c nodded and Harry grinned at him.

"Show off." Mitchell laughed. The man reminded him of something in between John's military skills and Iain's pilot attitude which was really true baring in mind the man was Special Forces trained but a pilot first and foremost. "Six and three, so you think they'll be back soon?"

"I imagine so." Harry shrugged. "But they didn't come down the main path and it'll be hard to follow them amongst the trees. I suggest we hunt them down."

"How do you suppose we do that?" Mitchell asked.

"Sir?" Harry asked. "I didn't come along to admire the scenery. Nobody move." He suggested and as Jackson, Carter and Mitchell watched him his eyes filled with storm clouds and then turned black. The small breeze died out as Harry stilled the air and reached out. He turned his head to look at the closest reasonable disturbance amongst the trees about a mile away and then looked further at the largest disturbance almost six miles away. "The Ha'tak's about six miles away?" He asked as his eyes turned back to normal. Carter nodded. "Well it's still there."

"You can sense it?" Carter looked fascinated.

"The engines it uses to stay above the ground create a high pressure right underneath it which I can detect." Harry explained. "On a more relevant matter there's a small group of people heading this way about a mile between us and the Ha'tak."

"You can sense the movement of air as people move?" Carter grinned.

"With all due respect, ma'am, you can't do experiments on me." Harry grumbled. "I get enough of that from Rodney."

"You work with Rodney!" Carter laughed. "I'd forgotten about that. How is he?"

"He's not so bad once you get to know him, Colonel." Harry explained. "After you struggle to survive cut off from Earth you get used to each other's peculiarities."

"Who's Rodney?" Mitchell asked.

"He's a..." Carter started.

"With all respect, ma'am. Perhaps we should discuss this after we take out the patrol?" Harry suggested.

"Good point." Mitchell nodded. "Any suggestions?"

"Leave it to me?" Harry half suggested and half asked.

"Take Teal'c and Sam with you." Mitchell stipulated.

Harry nodded and gestured to the two before tracking through the forest away from the Stargate. They travelled about half a mile before Harry gestured to the two to stop. "Stay here and if a fight starts then take them out." Harry told them. "I want to take them out before a fight starts."

"Are you sure you are able, Major Potter?"

"Major Potter is elite, Teal'c." Carter explained. "He's trained for exactly this sort of thing."

"Just watch and step in if you think I need it." Harry told them before leaving his P-90 and Sniper with Sam and drawing his Sai. He spun them to check their balance before tracking further along the path that the patrol had been using and then scaled a tree and hid on a low branch out of sight about twenty yards from Carter and Teal'c. He monitored the four approaching and was satisfied to see them walking in pairs as was the normal in any patrols, on Earth or not. It meant that only two could be killed by a landmine or something similar. If Jaffa even had such devices.

The first two passed underneath him and Harry prepared to attack. After the second two passed under him he dropped down behind them on silent feet and with a deft move he impaled them both through the back of the necks with his Sai. Pulled them clear and spun back behind the tree out of sight. The only warning to other two got of the attack was when they heard two bodies hit the ground but the brush covered the bodies from sight as they moved closer to find out where their colleagues had gone. One called out to them and Harry slipped silently to a position closer to them before emerging next to one. He slit his throat with one of his Sai before throwing the other with deadly accuracy. It cut through the light armour under the Jaffa's armpit and he fell to the ground.

Harry killed the one he'd attack first with a jerk of his Sai before doing the same to the other, impaling him through the neck. He pulled out his Sai and cleaned them on a cloth he always carried with him as Sam and Teal'c rejoined him. "Impressive, Major Potter."

"It's a hard learned skill and it leaves you feeling a little dirty." Harry grumbled.

"I do not understand." Teal'c frowned. "You got blood on your body?"

"Forget about it, Teal'c." Carter sighed.

"Do you have any objections if I scout ahead while you bring the others up?" Harry asked her.

"Sounds good." Carter nodded. "Meet us on the main path to the valley."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry nodded before accepting his P-90 and M40-A2 back from her and heading deeper into the forest. He scouted for twenty minutes working his way to the tree line at the edge of the valley and then scouted along the edge looking for used paths but found nothing but wildlife. He camped out with the M40 as he looked down over the town. There were a lot of dead lying out in what had once been a village but was just burnt out ruins. It seemed as though the Jaffa had killed a lot of them and rounded up the rest into two of the remaining huts. According to the UAV's short sweep the signals had come from inside the closest of the huts.

The Ha'tak was right where the sweep had said it would be, hanging over the remains of the settlement, barely fitting into the high sloped sides of the valley. He waited for five minutes watching Jaffa move about in their dozens before he heard a click on his radio. He pulled himself back from the edge of the trees and moved back through the cover to the main track and emerged in a small clearing where the other eight were waiting.

"So what do we have?" Mitchell asked him.

"Lots of dead bodies." Harry told him simply. "The prisoners all seem to be in two of the remaining huts."

"The Ha'tak?" Jackson asked.

"Still very much there." Harry assured him.

"Let's take a look. Lieutenant, keep your men here for the time being." Mitchell ordered. Harry led SG-1 through the trees to the edge and set up his Sniper rifle again for Mitchell to have a look through as Carter looked through a detached scope. Mitchell huffed a few minutes later. "I'd say we leave you and a spotter up here and the rest of us go down, free the prisoners from the back of the hut and get them away into the trees and back towards the Gate. Then you can bring the rain down on that Ha'tak."

"Yes, Sir." Harry nodded not commented on the irony of that piloting reference saying that rain wouldn't really do much to the Ha'tak.

"General O'Neill suggested you were a little shit at times, Major." Mitchell eyed him.

"I'm sure he did, Sir." Harry laughed.

"Everyone's heard what happened on Atlantis, Major." Mitchell told him. "Nobody thinks it's your fault."

"I'm sure some do, Colonel." Harry told him.

"You shouldn't be here picking up other peoples rubbish, Major." Mitchell told him sternly. "You're too good to be stuck on Earth. Atlantis needs you. You've saved them too many times to let that go to waste, you've almost killed yourself doing it."

"With all due respect, Sir, don't we have better things to be doing right now?" Harry asked.

"General O'Neill also told me you'd say that if I stuck my nose in." Mitchell rolled his eyes. "I've been reading the Atlantis mission reports. You and Colonel Sheppard are perfect for the job out there. Your Black Ops and that's what we need. We don't need you sitting on your arse over here."

"I'm not sitting on my arse, Sir." Harry pointed out. "I'm about to obliterate a Ha'tak if we eventually get around to remembering our prisoners."

Carter snorted. "Cameron, leave it." She nudged him. "He's right, we've got other things to do. You can tell him what you think about it all back on Earth."

Mitchell sighed and stood up. Carter looked at Harry. "What was that all about, Colonel Carter?" Harry asked.

"He's been ranting for days about you resigning your post. He'd be having a go at you for that except you'd be back here on the Pentagon's orders regardless." Carter shook her head. "He's right though."

"So people keep telling me, Colonel." Harry sighed. "But I was still conscious of the decisions I made to kill everyone on that expedition. Even with all my training I can't just brush that off."

She nodded and stood up and followed Jackson, Teal'c and Mitchell back through the trees. Harry held his position and started laying out his ammunition for the M40. If the others got into trouble down there he'd have to start taking out Jaffa. Luckily his trees gave him the perfect vantage. As he waited he began drawing on the atmosphere around him. Pulling moisture into the area from as far as he could. The sun vanished behind thick grey clouds and far to the north thunder rumbled.

Five minutes after Carter had left one of SG-18 arrived and laid out beside him. Harry turned to him with a grin and the man introduced himself as Sergeant Cooper, US Marine Corps. Harry introduced himself as Special Forces and the man gave him a bland look that made Harry chuckle.

"_Major Potter, we're in position now, can you cut out some of the light?"_ His earpiece woke up with Mitchell's voice.

"Understood, Colonel. Night time's on its way." Harry grinned and glanced at Cooper as his eyes turned black again. The light faded as the clouds darkened.

"The Jaffa are starting to look a little nervous down there, Sir." Cooper told him. Harry nodded to show he realised but merely thickened the clouds until it was pretty dark down there. He released his active control on the clouds but the storm was self-sustaining but not yet an actual storm. The lightning component was away in the mountains, much higher than this cloud base and waiting for Harry to create a system here to draw it in. Then it would turn into hell here for anyone out in the open.

"And our guys are already on the move." Harry pointed out as he looked through the Sniper scope at the far side of the valley where seven figures were using the dull light to slip down the slope. Harry scanned the Goa'uld before reaching for the storm again and bringing the lightning slightly closer so that the thunder echoed through the valley. Under his new sound cover he cocked the Sniper rifle and looked for any sign that Jaffa were about to see or raise an alarm.

SG-1 got to the back of one of the huts at the same time as SG-18 got to the other and they cut their way in through the back before slipping inside. Soon after people starting trickling out. Jackson led a whole stream of prisoners up the slope even as SG-4 were freed and led prisoners from the other hut. The prisoners made for the trees looking rather nervously up at the clouds.

"Jaffa, second hut!" Cooper announced and Harry shifted slightly to find him. One of the Jaffa had heard something and was heading around towards Daniel's exposed back.

"Here goes then." Harry muttered before hitting his radio. "Taking a shot, Colonel." Harry announced and fired a single shot that took a full second to cross the gap and slam through the Jaffa's chest sending him right up off of the ground and onto his back behind Daniel even as he had turned the corner and spotted the escaping prisoners. "Doctor Jackson, pull him around before another spots him." Jackson rushed to obey even as Teal'c came out of the hut to help guide the prisoners who had sped up at the sight of the dead Jaffa.

"SG-18, you're about to have company through the front door. Six Jaffa." Harry quickly reported as a group of four Jaffa joined the two guards and turned to enter.

"_Major, take them out."_ Mitchell ordered.

"Oh dear." Harry muttered before switching to full-automatic. He squeezed the trigger for a few seconds and took out all six Jaffa but that was the start of it. Those six died, flying back onto the ground and Jaffa began running around. "Better hurry it up, SG-18, they're closing in on you."

"_We're retreating now."_ SG-18's lieutenant reported and Harry watched as they followed the prisoners up into the trees.

"_That's all of our prisoners on the way up."_ Mitchell reported. _"Time to bring that storm down, Major, before the Ha'tak brings up its shields."_

"Colonel, you'd better start running." Harry suggested. "And no stopping to gawk." Harry added helpfully before bringing the full weight of his power down. He shoved the storm right into the upper sustainable range and the clouds swirled violently as the pressure plummeted and the clouds went pitch black as lightning flickered up the valley. He watched Mitchell, Carter and Teal'c reach the trees before lashing out at the Ha'tak. He focused on the electronic charges in the area and pulled all of the electrons he could from the Ha'tak and into the ground. The ground refused to attract the lightning and everything was attracted to the floating hunt of metal. Harry connected it to the ground with charged air and suddenly bright light burned his eyes as lightning struck followed by ear splitting thunder. The first bolt of lightning hit the Ha'tak within the clouds where Harry could no longer see it in the darkness.

"Are we safe here, Major?" Cooper asked nervously.

"A few more seconds." Harry told him as more lightning hit the Ha'tak. It started to show serious damage not even a few seconds later and it became evident that the lightning would destroy it when it sagged and an explosion rocked the side. Even though it was a massive ship designed to fly between the stars it was surprising how much damage lightning could do to something like this especially without them being able to raise their shields.

"Time to leave." Harry surmised. "Before it crashes and explodes."

"Good idea." Cooper looked pale. Harry broke down the M40's stand and slung it over his back before the two broke into a jog towards the Gate. They passed SG-18 on the path standing guard and Harry ordered them to retreat back to the Gate. The five of them arrived to see the last few prisoners step through and Mitchell, Carter and Teal'c turned to see them. Obviously Jackson had gone through. Before anyone could speak though there was a massive thud and a wave of hot air struck them in the back. Harry grinned and looked at them all.

"That was fun." Harry told them. "I haven't stretched my wings as it were for months."

"Let's go." Mitchell ordered and gestured SG-18 through the Gate. Harry followed them through after prompting the storm to dissipate. He imagined that some of the Jaffa might have gotten far enough away before that explosion but he doubted there would be many living to tell the tale.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next night**

Harry had been relaxing the evening before after getting back to Jessica's house. He'd surprised Josh who'd been back earlier than Jessica because they'd forgotten to give him the alarm code or a house key. Neither of which had stopped him from getting in and he pointed out that dogs were always a good bet. He'd been surprised in turn though when a letter had come to Jessica's house with his name on the front. Sent a week ago from the UK so before he'd even come back from Atlantis. He'd recognised the writing though and just rolled his eyes as Jessica had questioned him on how they'd know he'd be there.

It had been a letter from Luna inviting herself, rather gracefully, to dinner the next night which was why Harry was the one opening the door when somebody rang the doorbell. Neville and Luna were standing in the rain. Neville smiled happily at seeing him and Luna gave him a smug look. It was then that Harry spotted the baby in Luna's arms and he grinned happily.

"Is that Hannah?" Harry asked.

"Of course it is!" Luna laughed. "Are you going to let us in or not?"

"Don't you already know?" Harry teased. Luna rolled her eyes and slipped past him. Harry let Neville in after her and shut the door.

"Sorry about this, Harry." Neville sighed. "I didn't know who we were visiting until you answered the door."

Harry hugged the other man gently. "It's alright, Nev. She seemed to know I was back before I knew I was going to be." He turned to Luna and hugged her carefully around the sleeping baby. "Muggles, Luna."

"I know!" Luna grumbled. "Well one of them is."

"Hush!" Harry put a finger over her mouth. "Be subtle."

"You know me, I'm always subtle." Luna grinned.

"This way then." Harry sighed and led the two through the house and into the living room where Josh and Jessica were waiting. "Josh, Jessica, this is Luna and Neville Longbottom, they were school friends of mine. This is Hannah, supposedly my goddaughter."

"Goddaughter?" Jessica asked in shock. "I didn't know you had a goddaughter!"

"I didn't really get a choice." Harry rolled his eyes. "I got a letter just before I left on my assignment telling me as such. Sorry. This is Josh and Jessica Conway, Jessica is like a sister to me and they got married a few months ago."

"While you were away!" Luna complained. "Are you ever around for anything?"

"Don't start, Luna." Harry sighed as Josh offered everyone seats. Harry was about to say more when Luna placed Hannah in his arms and started automatically correcting his hold only to find out he was doing it fine. "What, Luna? Shocked?"

She huffed. "Dursleys!" She sat down next to him and fussed with Hannah's hair.

"She's adorable, Luna." Harry assured her. "I'd be glad to be her godfather. Make sure Jessica gives you her number."

"Already got it!" Luna declared happily before turning to a shocked Jessica. "So you finally managed to tie Harry down somewhere then?"

Harry reached over with a spare hand and put it over her mouth. "Guys?" He looked at Josh and Jessica. "I'll try to apologise for her but it's really a lost cause. She's a little bit of a handful." He gritted his teeth and pulled away his hand and wiped it on his jeans. "Nice."

Luna stuck her tongue out at him before laughing. Before anything more could be said there was a chime from the kitchen. Jessica stood up and Josh stood up to help. "Oh! I'll help!" Luna bounced up and followed them out.

Neville chuckled and slid up next to Harry and put an arm around his shoulders. "It's good to see you again, Harry. It's been what? Eight, nine years?"

"Didn't really see you when we killed Voldemort." Harry hummed. "So more like twelve years now."

"Are you happy?" Neville asked him. "Luna worries about you so much."

"I imagine she would if she saw half of what I've gotten myself into." Harry smiled. "But this time I'm choosing it. I'm not being forced into it. I know what I'm getting into and I don't have to worry about being subject to the random whims of people."

"Like Ron." Neville frowned. "He's really gotten bad over the years. He's into all sorts of things now, most of which I'm sure aren't legal but he's an Auror."

"Did Hermione tell you what just happened?"

"Didn't have to." Neville shook his head. "You're in the Prophet. Somebody wrote a letter claiming they had control of you and were making you destroy the world for them."

"Well not anymore." Harry shook his head. "They tried to destroy the place I was at. How they even found out about it is beyond me. Hermione freed me from the Imperious curse though and it's a learning curve, they won't manage it again."

"Well take care of yourself, Harry." Neville told him. "And try not to be a stranger. If not for us then for Hannah. Luna and I really don't have much family left. If something happens to us then we want to know that somebody trustworthy is there to look after her."

Harry looked down at the baby in his arms and blinked in surprise to see her looking up at him. "Hey there, love."

"She does that a lot. Just wakes up, doesn't make a sound and just stares at you." Neville reached over and touched his daughter on the hand.

"Do you want her?" Harry offered.

"No, no." Neville laughed. "You keep her for a while. She likes you."

"She seems to." Harry leant down and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled at him and giggled. Neville grinned happily.

"She's just started laughing and smiling." Neville told him. "Somehow I knew you'd be good with children."

"Neville, how could I not be good with children?" Harry asked as he looked up at him with sad eyes. "After what I went through as a child how could I not know how to make a child really smile?"

"Where have you been working?" Neville asked after sharing a smile with him.

"Sorry, Nev, I'm not allowed to say." Harry shook his head but launched into a long description of the type of thing he did, talking about his planes and about rescuing that passenger jet and even about linking the hero-pilot to one of his team members and a family killed in the war.

The rest of dinner went by with Jessica asking questions about Luna and Nev and getting half answers in return that Josh distracted her from since he'd easily worked out what the two guests really were. Harry fed and changed Hannah quite happily and then became her bed for most of the evening without a word of complaint and he saw Neville, Luna and Jessica all giving him smiles for most of the evening but nobody commented. When Jessica gave a small happy sigh at it she got hit in the head with a flying pen courtesy of Harry even though he'd barely jogged his sleeping goddaughter to do it. She'd huffed and sulked but not been able to retaliate through the shield that was the baby in Harry's arms. Eventually Neville, Luna and Hannah left with tears from Luna and even from Hannah. Harry promised to let them know the next time he was back in town so they could visit again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That night**

Harry's eyes snapped open as he heard his door open and somebody try to quietly walk around his bed. It definitely wasn't Jessica or Josh. They reached for the pillow beside Harry and Harry let them place it over his head before reminding them that they needed to restrain him to do that first. He grabbed their head and brought up one of his knees into the left side of their face. He heard their jaw break as he stood up and took in the hit wizard robes the man wore and the wand in the holster at his side. "That's for trying to make it look normal." Harry scoffed and gripped the man's head and snapped his neck with a grunt of effort. He quickly threw on jeans and a t-shirt before pulling his gun from the bedside table. He was glad that he'd convinced Josh to let him keep his gun handy. He pulled back the top to cock it and slipped up to the door, listening for a second before cracking the door further open and glancing out into the hallway. Two men were just entering Josh and Jessica's room and another was waiting at the top of the stairs.

It was a pathetic attack really but then again Wizards that thought themselves above everyone else always underestimated normal humans. Harry slipped into the hallway and the man at the stairs spotted him. Harry aimed before he drew and fired a single shot that snapped the wizards head back and sent the body tumbling down the stairs. The shot was extremely loud in the silence of the night. Harry moved straight into Josh and Jessica's room and assessed the situation in a fraction of a second. Josh and Jessica had snapped awake at the sound of the shot and Josh had instinctively tried to cover her. The two hit wizards were standing either side of the bed obviously ready to kill them. Harry shot the first one in the back of the head sending blood up the wall beside the bed.

The second tried to turn to look at him but Harry's bullet caught him in the temple and sent him jerking sideways into the wall next to the bed. "Get up!" Harry ordered sharply. Josh didn't question him or find out why Harry had just shot two men in their bedroom and he pulled Jessica up. "Phone, Josh. Now!" He ordered. Josh held Jessica's head away from the bodies but grabbed his cell off of the bedside table and chucked it at him even as Harry shut the door and put his head near to it to listen. People were shouting downstairs.

Harry flipped open the phone even as Josh started making Jessica put on her dressing gown. Josh got her to stand up as Harry dialled and Josh was about to move to the window to escape when Harry called him back sharply. "Stay up against the wall there, Josh, and don't move." Harry ordered as somebody answered.

"_Cheyenne mountain complex, how can I direct your call?"_ A woman asked.

"This is Major Harry Potter, Atlantis expedition, direct me to the control room flash." Harry ordered and she did as she was told without question. There were set procedures if anybody with the knowledge of the Stargate came under threat on Earth.

"_SGC, control room."_

"This is Major Potter. Is there a ship in orbit?" He demanded as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

"_The Odyssey is in orbit, sir."_ The duty lieutenant told him.

"Assassins are trying to kill me. I need an immediate beam out for myself and two civilians closest to my tracking beacon." Harry ordered.

"_Standby."_ The man told him without fuss and Harry heard clutter on the other side. A bright light flashed through the door and Harry leapt to the side, dropping the phone as he did. He rolled and straightened even as Josh pulled Jessica down to the ground. The door exploded half a second later and hit the ceiling and shattered, showering them with wood. A figure appeared in the door and Harry fired, putting a bullet in his chest.

A blast of air sent him rolling backwards and two figures emerged into the room with wands ready. Harry fired and took one down but the other just snapped out a curse that barrelled towards him.

Harry's world exploded into white and when it faded he felt the cold deck under him. Guns rustled as the guards aimed on him and he held up his hands with his pistol hanging from two fingers. One of the Marines quickly moved forwards and took it from him. "Major Harry Potter, formerly Atlantis expedition." He glanced to the right where Josh was cradling a terrified Jessica. "Joshua Conway of the Colorado Springs Police Department and Jessica Conway, his wife and my next-of-kin."

"Welcome onboard the _Odyssey_, Major." A voice greeted him. "Stand down." The Marines moved back. "Give him that back, Sergeant." Harry accepted his pistol and popped the chambered round and pocketed it before safetying it and putting it in the back of his jeans. It was pretty hazardous practice that militaries taught you out of in basic training and then special forces taught you into it again later.

Harry turned to the Colonel that had spoken. He braced and saluted. "Thank you, Colonel Emerson. You just saved our lives."

"The ship detected eight more life signs at your residence." Emerson informed him.

"Oh my." Josh gasped as he finally spotted their surroundings. They weren't in the normal ring transport room but the observation deck with a full view down over daytime in Russia. "That's..."

"The Planet Earth." Emerson told him. "Major, is this going to be a problem?"

"No, Sir. They're both cleared for Stargate information." Harry told him before moving over to Jessica. "Jessy, can you look up at me?" She did but her eyes were unfocused. "Sir, she's in shock, can we get her to your infirmary?"

"Lieutenant, see our guests to the infirmary." Emerson ordered and the Lieutenant at his side moved forwards to help Josh guide Jessica out of the room. "What happened down there, Major?"

"Colonel, are you cleared for anything above the Stargate programme?" Harry asked.

The Colonel bit his lip. "Clear the deck!" He snapped out his order. The Marines took it in stride and filed out of the room, shutting the door behind them. "I'm cleared for your weather abilities as is everyone in the Stargate programme now and also the existence of hidden worlds on Earth."

"Those were hit wizards." Harry told him bluntly and saw Emerson's eyes widen. "They weren't playing around. "Their orders were to kill me and anyone I was with. They underestimated me but if you hadn't been in orbit and hadn't been so quick we'd all be dead. In fact I was a few moments away from being hit by something."

"Glad to be of help, Major." Emerson nodded. "Now we'd better deal with this situation."

"Easiest way is to go through General O'Neill or General Hammond, Sir." Harry told him.

"They'll be delighted to be woken up this early in the morning." Emerson groaned.

"I'll make the call, sir." Harry nodded. "Could I get some socks and boots first though?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A week later**

Because of the threat the US government relocated Josh and Jessica to a different home but still in Colorado Springs except that this time the house was filled with top of the range, yet still earth-based, security and magical protection courtesy of the US government. Harry spent his days helping them move everything to their new house which also gave Jessica the confidence to recover after the attack. Josh had even admitted that seeing Harry gun people down without even blinking had scared him a little. Harry had just snapped one's neck and then shot exactly five times, each time killing a target with deadly accuracy.

A week after the attack they were sitting down with watching a movie when there was a knock at the door. Harry stood up and moved out of the room before drawing his pistol so that Jessica couldn't see the movement. As always he'd flicked off the safety even as he drew it but didn't cock it after he looked through the security camera and saw General O'Neill standing on the porch with two Sergeants behind him.

Harry opened the door even as he called to Josh. "Sir?" Harry asked.

"Grab your things, Major Potter." The General told him. "The Daedalus breaks orbit in one hour."

"Sir?" Harry queried even as Josh stopped behind him.

"You're returning to Atlantis." The General explained simply. "The current expedition's military leader, Colonel Sheppard, is missing, presumed kidnapped by Lieutenant Aiden Ford so you're going back there as fast as possible."

"Sir, it's still a twelve day trip." Harry frowned.

"Let's hope Ford doesn't kill Sheppard's team in the next twelve days then." O'Neill pointed out.

"With all due respect, General, even if you've gone over the heads of the IOA and the people in the Pentagon that hate me it's still supposed to be voluntary." Harry pointed out.

"As far as the IOA is concerned you have people higher up than the President as far as the IOA see it. To be precise the Queen of the United Kingdom which holds a fifth of the say in the IOA dealings and the French, Chinese and Russians like having you there as much as the British. I say it's because you're not fully American like the rest of the military contingent." O'Neill rolled his eyes. "And yes I can trump the rest of those fat arses who prefer Brokewell to you."

"It's still voluntary, Sir." Harry frowned.

"Not for you, not any longer." O'Neill told him simply. "Get your arse back there, Major. I'd prefer not to make it a direct order."

Harry didn't bother to hide his sigh of irritation and the General didn't comment on it. "Is one of those Sergeants in case I decide to run away?" He asked.

"These Sergeants are Air Force Special Forces Protection, Major." O'Neill rolled his eyes. "You could take them apart in seconds. No offence, boys." He added over his shoulder before turning back to Harry. "If I thought you'd need to be forced onto the Daedalus I would have brought an entire company of men with me."

Harry snorted in amusement. "Beam up?" He asked.

"At exactly twenty-two hundred hours, Major." O'Neill told him simply. "Viper, Cobra and Adder Flight are all back in your hands as is base security. Enjoy."

"I'll try, General." Harry sighed.

"We'll look after your family, Major." The older man softened his tone.

"Yes, Sir." Harry's voice took a steely edge to it but the General didn't seem fazed. "Are you staying?"

"No, Major." O'Neill took a step back off of the porch. "Say goodbye to your family and get all your things together."

Harry nodded and shut the door before turning and leaning on it. Josh just watched him for a moment. "Jessica is going to kill you." Josh muttered. Harry just groaned.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Daedalus – An hour later**

"Permission to come aboard, Colonel?" Harry asked as the white light faded and he found himself standing right in front of the Colonel in his chair.

"Welcome aboard, Major." Caldwell actually smiled a little. "We're about to break orbit."

"Thanks for giving me the chance to say goodbye to my family." Harry told him and moved out of his view of the stars, not that it actually mattered whether Caldwell could see out of the window or not. Harry dropped his single holdall in the corner of the Bridge before crouching down to put the quickly written letter from Jessica to Olivia in the side pocket. She'd written it in the last hour after getting over Harry's departure.

The ship lurched into Hyperspace a minute later after Caldwell said farewell to the control station on Earth. Caldwell stood up. "I'll show you to your rooms." Caldwell offered. Harry picked up his holdall and followed the man out into the corridor.

"Am I in the same rooms as before?" Harry asked.

Caldwell snorted. "It's a Commander's right to come up with excuses to talk to people in private, Major. Don't spoil the facade."

Harry chuckled. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I understand why you resigned your position." Caldwell told him. "In your position anyone else would have done the same. You needed to disconnect yourself from Atlantis until you reconnected with yourself. Having control taken away from you like that couldn't have been pleasant."

"No, Sir." Harry shook his head.

"That said, Atlantis will be glad to see you back." Caldwell assured him. "We were only there a couple of days after what happened but when we left it was the general consensus that you should return. People have accepted what happened and to be honest if Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard and his team aren't found then Atlantis will need you back desperately."

"I do miss it there." Harry admitted.

"One thing I'll never get used to is you Black Ops guys." Caldwell chuckled. "You and Sheppard both."

"At least we're pilots too." Harry pointed out. Caldwell nodded with a relieved sigh. "What's been happening out there? I wasn't allowed mission reports when not in the base."

"I don't really know if I want to say." Caldwell groaned. "In the two weeks we were on our way back they freed a penal colony from a country working with the Wraith. And the Doctors think they've started on a cure for the Wraith mutation."

"Wow, they really are busy." Harry's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, and just before we left Doctor McKay blew up a solar system." Harry almost walked into Caldwell in shock.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	15. Home in mind and body

Cast Between Worlds

Chapter 15; Home in mind and body.

**Daedalus**

Harry glanced over his cabin as he felt the ship lurch out of Hyperspace after their long eight day journey. They'd pushed the engines and cut four days off of the journey which used to take sixteen days but had been reduced to just twelve by good navigation of areas of the two Galaxies. Someone knocked on his door and he grabbed his holdall of clothes and personal effects and let himself out of the cabin.

"Major. We're just moving into transport range now." The Sergeant told him. "I'm to escort you to the transport pad. Colonel Caldwell is transporting down with you."

"Lead the way, Sergeant." Harry nodded and followed the man down the corridors until he spotted Caldwell arriving at the transport station from the other direction.

"Ready to go, Major?" Caldwell asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Harry replied truthfully and resettled his holdall on his shoulder. He was just glad to be out of Hyperspace where he didn't feel as claustrophobic.

"Beam us down, Corporal." Caldwell ordered the controller who nodded and jabbed a few buttons. Harry's world exploded into bright white light before reforming as the Gateroom in the City he'd come to love. He felt relief flood him as he took in his surroundings but couldn't help getting nervous as everyone continued to stare at him. He recognised almost everyone there and those that he hadn't met he'd seen their files for. Only a few had joined the expedition since he'd attacked the city and those that had just joined had arrived on the Daedalus when it had saved the city from Harry.

Everyone stared at him in surprise and shock and Harry was at a loss as to what to do but was saved when Corporal Howitz, standing right in front of him, grinned, braced himself and saluted sharply. The motion was copied by all of the Marines scattered through the room and the smiles spread to the scientists.

"Major Potter." Major Lorne appeared from the control room and walked down the steps with Elizabeth following him with a bright smile on her face. Lorne stopped at the bottom of the steps and saluted him and Harry copied the gesture quickly since the man was his superior. "It's great to have you back, Major."

"It's good to be back." Harry nodded. "Elizabeth."

"Harry." Elizabeth nodded before glancing around and starting to address everyone in the room. "I kept this between just a few people for security means but it was decided that Major Potter's skills and experience couldn't be wasted. He has been returned to active duty and his resignation rejected."

"Rather rudely." Harry muttered.

"All I know is we're going to need your help, especially now." Elizabeth gestured up the steps.

"Let's get up to speed then." Harry accepted the invitation.

"I'll take that to your rooms, Major." Lorne offered. Harry gave him his holdall with another nod and soon Lorne was getting all of the Marines back to work. Harry followed Elizabeth up to her office with Caldwell on his trail and they settled around her desk.

"Seems the expedition is happy to welcome you back, Major." Caldwell observed.

"For the last few weeks I've had dozens of complaints about your absence. Most of the expedition sent messages back to Earth at last week's call home and demanded you come back." Elizabeth told him. "People feel safer with you here."

"Well I'm here." Harry told her with a small smile. "And glad for it honestly."

"And with John, Teyla and Ronan missing the expedition needs you." Elizabeth finished.

Harry frowned. "What about Rodney, last I heard he was missing too."

"He came through the Gate yesterday afternoon." Elizabeth told him. "With the Daedalus so close I didn't see any reason to send you a message. We couldn't get anything out of him."

"Why not?" Harry tensed. He didn't want to have just come back to lose four people he cared about. He'd spent too much time protecting Rodney and working with him to not care about him.

"Whatever happened to him he was drugged by the Wraith Enzyme." Elizabeth explained.

"The one that Lieutenant Ford was dosed with during the siege?" Caldwell checked.

"He's obviously been on it for days, perhaps more than a week, but it also seems he took a massive dose in order to escape from his captors." Elizabeth sighed. "That's all he really said before he collapsed."

"He's in the infirmary?" Harry checked.

"Carson thinks he'll wake up early this afternoon." Elizabeth nodded. "We'll have to find out what he knows before we work out a plan."

"The teams are still checking the locations you got from the DHD?" Harry asked.

"We've covered about a dozen so far." Elizabeth sighed. "But at least Rodney's reappearance tells us that they're alive."

"Is there anything else, Elizabeth?" Harry checked and got a shake in way of a negative. "I'm going to get a shower and restow my gear and then check in with my Flight. You'll be able to find me with Rodney in about an hour if you need me but I'll be on radio as soon as I've showered."

"Ever efficient." Elizabeth smiled.

"I've got ground to cover." Harry smiled sadly and stood and said his farewells. "Elizabeth, Colonel."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later**

Harry was leaning back in a chair next to Rodney's bed in his private hospital room flicking through pages of reports loaded onto a data board when Rodney grunted himself awake. It took a few seconds for Rodney to realise something was wrong and he got halfway to sitting upright when his strength deserted him and he flopped back onto his pillow.

"Hey." Harry put the pad aside and leaned forwards onto his elbows.

"I must be hallucinating." Rodney muttered.

Harry snorted. "Trust me, I've done that."

"Major Potter?" Rodney frowned as he realised that Harry was really there.

"Supposedly when the military leader of an expedition goes missing with the flagship team they tend to call in every experienced hand they can find." Harry told him. "My resignation was torn up and the Pentagon has cleared me of any charges anybody might try to raise against me for anything I did under mind control. I'm back in my old position."

Rodney stared at him before his head sagged back onto the pillow. Harry stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Ford is what happened!" Rodney growled out. "He kidnapped us and shot us up with the Wraith enzyme and then hatched some stupid plan to destroy a Wraith ship using a stolen dart that he made me interface for him and Sheppard fly."

"Interesting plan." Harry mused.

"It's idiotic!" Rodney complained. "He's so high he can't see it."

"There's too much that could go wrong." Harry agreed. "Too many unknowns. We just don't know how the Darts operate once inside the ship."

"When they didn't come back from the mission on time I tried to get my captors to let me go to get help but they wouldn't listen to me." Rodney complained.

"So you beat them up and escaped." Harry grinned at him. "Way to go by the way. I'm proud of you."

Rodney clearly didn't know whether to be complimented or insulted by that and merely stared at Harry. Harry smiled and shifted back into his seat beside the bed. "How are the others?" Harry asked.

"Why you asking me for?" Rodney scoffed. "They're captured!"

"I mean before that." Harry sighed. "I mean with me doing what I did."

"Everyone's over that." Rodney grinned. "All in a day's work. Sheppard's been unbearable though. Whining constantly about the injustice of it." Harry flinched, he'd missed John so badly in the last few weeks and he'd had plenty of other problems to distract himself. John on the other hand had been left alone with only the distractions of a city without Harry to deal with.

"We'll get them back, Rodney." Harry promised. "You know what I can do when necessary."

"That's why people want you here." Rodney nodded.

"How about you tell me about what you've been getting up to. I'm sure the story about the solar system you destroyed has got to be interesting." Harry grinned as Rodney groaned and covered his face in despair.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Soon after**

"All units, engage drives." Harry ordered from the seat of his much missed X-304. They were fully suited for a long haul and the seven X-304s were fully loaded with everything they could carry which was enough to fight a small war. And each had two small nukes within their bellies ready to be deployed.

He listened as all of Adder flight reported in, at least the three remaining ones. The French-born Hugh Stevens had stepped in as the acting Flight Leader until they decided on a permanent replacement for Brokewell. The problem was that the IOA was pointing out that it didn't necessarily need to be a US pilot that filled the spot. Harry had put in a few names for experienced pilots that he'd worked with, US, British, French and even a Chinese pilot he'd met and flown with a few times in his black ops days.

His own flight reported Ion drives running happily so he got permission to launch and put them all up into the air. "Daedalus flight control, this is Viper-one. '4s inbound, seven in number. ETA is three minutes but request land in fifteen."

"_Viper-one this is Daedalus flight control. We have you on tracking. Permission to approach immediately and land in fifteen."_ He got the permission he wanted before the man continued. _"Daedalus jumps in twenty mikes. Request information regarding extended flight?"_

Harry had expected that one but he had his reasons. "Daedalus flight control, this is Viper-one. Viper-one has not been run at full power for several weeks. I need to burn her hot for a time. Not priority if Daedalus needs to jump earlier."

"_Viper-one. We can delay for a short while. Preps are still underway."_ The man told him easily.

"Viper-one, roger out." Harry switched off the transmitter in regards to the Daedalus and turned his attention on his own flight. He'd been heading west over the ocean at fifty feet with Claire, Iain and then Izzy on his starboard wing and Alex, Hugh and then John on his port side. "Adder-two, confirm flight ready in all respects for orbit."

There was a pause as Hugh used his in-flight link before confirming they were ready. In that time Harry did the same with Iain, Alex and Claire. "Viper and Adder flight. Rotating vertical." He announced before pulling up in a smooth motion and punching up to full power. He didn't need full power to break out of gravity but he still needed to run at full power for a while and this was as good a time as any.

They flew for a while as the Daedalus got ready to get underway before they landed alongside the four X-304s of Cobra flight already onboard. They barely managed to shut down before they felt the Daedalus jump into Hyperspace towards the planet that Rodney had given them the coordinates for. Where Harry could help rescue John.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Eight hours later**

Harry looked out to either side of his Viper's cockpit at the range of X-304s to either side of him. It was the first time that they'd seen actual combat since Viper flight had gone up against the Goa'uld in the Antarctic. Behind them were eight F302s to cover them but they intended to come around hard and fast and strike before they were noticed.

The Daedalus had dropped out of Hyperspace in the shadow of the planet on a hunch thinking that the Wraith would attack from the daylight side and they'd gone unnoticed. Rodney's team had long known how the Wraith sensors worked and knew how the X-304s could avoid them if they tried hard enough. So the Daedalus would move around one side of the planet and draw the two Wraith Hive's attention so that Viper, Cobra and Adder flights could slingshot around the planet and hit their engines and disable them before they could spot them. Once disabled they could mop up to their hearts content. The nukes in their bays were only for use if they could determine which hive John and the others were on since they couldn't afford the risk of blowing up their own people. The idea of launching a missile in John's direction was bad enough after what he'd done under magical control but the idea of launching another nuke at them was like stabbing himself in the heart.

The Hives revealed themselves out from behind the planet and Harry reacted quickly as data flooded his sensors. Wraith ships were woefully lacking in technology as they knew it. True they were remarkable creations, powerful, deadly and capable of lasting thousands of years in hibernation but they lacked defences that left them vulnerable to attack simply because they weren't used to going up against a well armed and technologically advanced race. They hadn't gone into combat against anything but others of their kind since they went to war with the Ancients and against them it had been a matter of numbers and not technology.

Their main weakness was their lack of shields. From the crashed dart that they'd recovered they knew that the ships were protected by a resistant coating like a skin that burnt off on entry and then re-grew rather quickly but that didn't protect them from heavy hits like the Daedalus' shields would.

"Viper, Cobra and Adder form up, swarm logic. One wing." Harry ordered and let the ten other X-304s shift around him and link their targeting computers together and feed information between themselves. They were arrayed like a shallow arrow head and Harry plotted their attack course and fed it out to the computer. The aircraft would fly on automatic until their pilots used their joysticks to dodge incoming fire. Their speed was building rapidly and if it wasn't for the fact that the F-302s were using the same slingshot manoeuvre they'd have been left far behind. As it was Harry simply didn't want to leave their protection behind and face however many darts didn't go for the Daedalus' distraction.

The combined targeting computer easily started picking out structural points on the Hive ships and counting emerging Darts and plotting their course. They were spilling out of the two Hives like ants swarming from an ant hill but they were all heading towards the slowly approaching Daedalus. They'd discovered that the Wraith energy weapons were fire and forget and because they had no physical shell they bled power out into space on transit so the further away the target the weaker the strike.

Harry let the computer pick the best targets and advise on optimum firing distance before rejecting the distance. They knew from experience that the Darts would intercept strikes and they'd have to make them from right on top of the Hives or they'd barely get anything through.

_"Strike group, this is Daedalus Command. We have the 302s on sensors." _The Daedalus reported. _"Unconfirmed energy spikes for 304s." _Harry grinned at that. They'd never tested the Daedalus sensors against X-304s at these speeds and in such a scenario.

"All strike units this is Viper One. Going full speed." Harry ordered just as his computer reported several of the Darts peeling off towards them. "Incoming." Harry warned and armed his weapons. "Weapons are hot, fire at minimum range and then bug out to point Alpha. Stay in your flights or at least pairs. And keep talking to me."

He heard a quick set of confirmations from Adder and Cobra flight and his own team clicking at him through the flight-link. Harry's Viper spotted it first, weapons fire between the Darts and he tracked the first shots to a Dart heading up out from between the two Hives. More turned and soon shots were being engaged. The ones heading for themselves banked hard around and turned back for their own ship.

"Daedalus this is Viper-one. Are you seeing that?" Harry asked even as he went to full power. The X-304s automatically followed on auto and drew together.

"_Roger that Viper-one."_ Caldwell reported with a smug tone to his voice. _"Hit them hard while they're distracted. Assess Colonel Sheppard is in a Dart."_

"Roger that." Harry smirked. "Vipers, hit them heavy."

He got confirmations and selected his own heaviest hitters, not counting the nukes in his weapons bay. They were more guided bombs then missiles but they'd slam through the outer hulls of the Hives at these speeds.

"Escort, follow as you can and keep a track. If you find that independent Dart again try to make visual contact and if it's friendly protect it. We'll hit across on this vector and then double back if they don't finish each other off." Harry listened to the confirmation but he'd quickly run out of time. It had only taken two minutes in reality between coming around the planet and getting within firing range.

At the last moment the eleven X-304s split into their three flights to go after different areas. Cobra and Adder went after main machinery near the aft ends of the Hives while Viper had the main hangers on both. They were the weakest sections and with eight hits each they could get explosives right inside the massive things.

"Two and four, weapons free." Harry ordered just as they approached the first hive. Darts twisted up to counter them but they were too close and going too fast by the time they were spotted. Iain and Alex opened fire and darts of metal weighing eighty pounds each shot from their weapons bays at almost seventy percent the speed of light and slammed through the protective doors trying to close around the hangers. They didn't see the damage caused as they flew close over the Hive and soon Harry and Claire fired their own payloads into the second Hive.

Harry angled his own flight away to safety watching on his sensors as the Darts fell away, their shots easily dodged. He tracked the other flights coming away safely and the devastation they'd wrought on the two Hives. The Darts were still fighting in a frenzy but one of the Hives, Harry and Claire's target, was dead in the water with half the stern section obliterated. The other one wasn't much better, she was spewing her guts into space and half her engines were gone and the other half was woefully struggling to stop her from careening off course.

"_Strike group, the Hives are colliding."_ Caldwell's voice warned them. _"Get clear and regroup."_

"Viper-one, copied." Harry went about doing that even as he got into a position where the F-302s, who had gotten through the fight unharmed, could regroup with them and watch as the Hives slammed together and exploded in blinding eruptions of light.

Almost all of the Darts were caught in the explosion, still caught up in fighting one another rather than escaping and the few remaining fled towards the planet on a trajectory for the Stargate. His sensors finally saw through the detonation and picked out a single Dart lingering on the other side. He angled his Viper towards it and his flight formed around him.

"All units, Dart remaining." Harry took control. "Adder flight swing right, Cobra swing up on my position. F-302s take left and under."

Harry slammed to seventy percent power as soon as the others were arrayed around them and together they spread out and moved between the quickly approaching Daedalus and the single Dart that was heading right towards it. Harry got target lock but nobody knew whether the Darts could detect targeting like that.

Harry deployed a missile ready to fire but the Dart shot up vertical, came level again and then came to a halt well inside their firing range. Harry kept his target lock since he wasn't an idiot but he disengaged his weapons. "Strike group, safe weapons." Harry ordered. "Assess target as friendly. All flights stay at a thousand miles. Viper-flight follow me."

Harry slammed his power full blast and his flight were quick to follow. They rapidly increased speed knowing that just a twitch at these speeds moved them so far that fire and forget shots couldn't hope to hit them. Harry led his flight on a fly-by so close that if they weren't in space the ripples in the air would have probably shredded the Dart. As it was the Dart held steady and Harry broke his flight up to surround it, hovering in the air. Their own fire and forget shots, the turreted mini-gun in their nose cones could shred it before it could move.

He tried calling it on subspace without luck. Darts, they'd learned from the crashed one, worked on a link similar to the X-304s which meant they could talk to other Darts and their mother ships but nothing else. Harry turned and slipped above the Dart and turned for the Daedalus and the Dart followed his heading. Accepting his control and letting itself be taken prisoner.

"Daedalus Command. Permission to land a Dart in the main hanger?" Harry asked. "I think it has to be Lieutenant-Colonel Sheppard but it's your call. We could land on the planet instead."

"_Viper-one. Take it planet side."_ Caldwell decided on the safer option. _"I'm sending Lorne in the Jumper."_

"Roger that." Harry nodded and changed his heading and his wing followed him around and after a moment the Dart as well.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next night**

It had been hectic after they'd gotten back to Atlantis. The Vipers had been checked through thoroughly for any damage and then rearmed and then checked again thoroughly. Viper flight were due to go to Earth on the next run home, all but Harry. Iain would be their acting Flight-leader so he had a lot of work to do. They'd get two weeks leave upon arriving on Earth in order to see their friends and Iain was going to deliver messages for Harry and Olivia to Jessica and Josh. Harry knew it wouldn't be long before Iain was due to get his own flight. He had more experience leading a flight of X-304s than most others and was one of the few pilots to fly against the Goa'uld and the Wraith. He was even Harry's first choice for taking Adder flight but the IOA wanted somebody that wasn't United States Military in charge of the flight so round things out. Harry was alright with trying to keep the program as international as possible but not at the cost of overlooking decent and worthy pilots like Iain.

Since getting back Harry had been catching up with the soldiers on base. He couldn't really call them Marines anymore because there were delegations mixed in with them from other countries and their elite units such as the British SAS who loved having Harry as their Commanding Officer.

John on the other hand had been stuck in the infirmary under Carson's orders because he couldn't be trusted to tell the truth about his health. Carson had been running every test imaginary on him and John wasn't even the one that had been addicted to the Wraith Enzyme. Harry sat in with Rodney's second interview on what had happened and then did some paperwork even though he was mostly distracted by that by his desire to go stay with John in the infirmary.

It wasn't until Harry was lying in bed trying to make himself fall asleep that night that there was a knock at his door. Harry pulled on a set of combat trousers but didn't bother doing them up beyond the fly before moving to the door and opening it for the patiently waiting person in his hallway. John shot him a shy smile and Harry simply moved aside and let him in. He let the door shut and then tapped the control to lock it.

"Hey." John muttered as if there was a chance anybody could hear him. After the noises they'd made in this room without being caught Harry didn't think that was likely. The Ancients had been really good at privacy.

"Hi." Harry smiled back and the tension left the two of them. Harry tucked his hands around John's waist as he let John take the dominant role in the embrace, locking his arms around Harry's and holding him tight. In that second they shifted from Expedition Military Commanding Officer and his Senior Flight Officer and Base Security Officer to just two men very much in love with one another and on completely equal footing. There was no duty to the expedition when they held each other like this, just the need to be with one another.

Harry led John out onto the balcony as soon as they pulled away from each other and John shed himself of his upper clothing and leaned into Harry's side. John was slightly taller by a couple of inches but when he wanted to he could settle easily against Harry's body so that Harry could take the dominant position and wrap his arm around John's bare shoulders. John laid his head against Harry's shoulder and sighed out in relief.

They didn't speak for almost an hour, just listening to each other breath and John listening to Harry's steady heart beat as if was the only thing he could feel. Their free hands drifted a little, twitching over skin and seeking out more heated flesh to explore but neither tried to advance anything and merely wallowed in the comfort of each other's presence after so long apart. Well, long enough apart.

Eventually it was Harry that started talking as if he was continuing a conversation they'd been having for the entire last hour. He told John about everything that had happened on Earth, about Josh knowing who he was, about who _he_ really was to the Wizarding World. He told John about Luna, Neville and especially Hannah and then grudgingly about how Harry had shown his best friend and her husband exactly what it meant to be Black Ops like Harry and John. He told John all about how he'd obliterated a Wizarding Hit Squad just in front of Josh and Jessica even though he'd strived to never let his darker side and his front clash. John understood better than anyone else exactly what that struggle was like, he knew how you needed people to not know about the darkness in the job that they did.

He described the attack in vivid detail, more detail then he'd even put in the report that O'Neil had made him write. In that report he'd merely explained the number of attackers and the spells that they'd probably used and who he'd killed and such vague details but with John he spoke for half an hour on every detail he could remember like how he'd woken up, assessed the situation and in one smooth move decided to kill and done just that.

Throughout it all John just listened to him, he tensed a few times but stayed mostly relaxed against him, soothing him with light finger tips over Harry's chest, stomach and what he could reach of his right hip where Harry's combat trousers had slipped. Afterwards they sat in silence. Harry didn't need John to tell him what he thought, he already knew why he'd done what he'd done and he knew it had been necessary. He didn't need it justified by John and he knew John wouldn't try to tell Harry what he already knew. After a good ten minutes John started telling Harry everything that had happened to the Expedition up to and including his escape from the Wraith Hive Ship.

Harry took it all in, adding it to the informationn he'd read on the Daedalus on his way back to the city, and then they sat together quietly until John shifted. He straddled Harry's lap and settled against him, leaning against his chest and settling his head down on Harry's shoulder with his face buried in his neck, licking and nibbling as he closed them in from the rest of the world.

(**NC-17 Scene – Skip if you don't want to read it)**

They both knew where this was going but it was John that had decided to lead things along and take charge of events and it wasn't long before John was shifting to pull off his combat trousers and boxers but then settled back in Harry's lap before Harry could get his own free. He felt John's smirk against the side of his neck as John went back to nibbling on his heated flesh just as much as he could feel John's leaking arousal grinding into his abs. John moved to Harry's shoulder and got rougher with his teeth knowing that he could leave marks there that Harry's could cover with a sleeveless top even in training.

While he distracted Harry he pushed a hand between them and pulled Harry's cock from the slit in his boxers. He'd already divested Harry of a closed zip during their touches earlier and Harry found himself grateful for the two seconds of saved time as his cock met John's warm hand and then John shifted and Harry's cock was trapped against his own body by John's balls as he leaned against Harry.

John kissed him deep and hard as he slicked up his hand from a tube of lube in his trouser pocket and then started fisting it over their cocks, paying more attention to liberally coating Harry's cock. With just that move Harry knew what John had in mind which was fine by Harry because he just wanted to feel himself with John and didn't want to waist more time by shifting position. John pulled himself up and Harry kissed his stomach tenderly but he wanted to be inside John too much to give his bobbing cock any attention and John didn't seem to mind since he lined Harry up with practiced ease and pressed himself down. He let go of Harry's cock as soon as his hole met with the head and gripped Harry shoulders before he let his weight control his downwards decent, spearing himself on Harry with familiar groans from them both.

Harry let John do all the work as he slid himself up and down Harry's cock but after a month apart they didn't last long at all. Harry felt John contract around his cock after only five minutes but before he could climax John reached down and roughly grabbed his cock and balls and stalled his own orgasm. Harry groaned as he watched John's cock and balls swell with red blood as they strained. He looked up at John's struggling expression and lost his own control. His body spasmed and he drove up into John's next downwards fall. John whined but even as Harry filled him with his cum he held off his own. Harry knew what he wanted and as soon as he finished he pulled John's hips up and towards him and in a second deep throated John's cock. John let go and Harry sucked as John's cum erupted, hitting the back of his throat.

Harry kept his nose buried in John's body until John had softened in his mouth and then pulled back. Harry was hard again already and as John sat back against him he felt John's cock stiffen in renewed interest. Clearly they were going to be at it for a while tonight.

**(End Scene)**

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Somewhere – Sometime**

He opened his eyes and instantly shut them again. It was too bright but he was surprisingly comfortable on whatever it was he was lying on. He slowly reopened his eyes again taking in the details on the underside of the roof over his head. Large wooden beams crossed his sight, supporting the thatched roof. He rolled his head to either side taking in the one room house. He was alone it seemed.

He frowned, he had no idea where this place was. The room wasn't familiar in any way and he was sure he'd never... His eyes widened and he looked down at his hands, arms, legs and torso in shock. "My name?" He whispered, the panicked edge escaping easily. His voice wasn't even familiar.

He heard the wooden door swing open and he lifted his wild eyes to see who had entered. The man was taller with dark hair and bright blue eyes and a relieved smile on his face. "You're awake!" He sounded genuinely happy. "She said she wasn't sure whether she could heal all the damage. They didn't know what happened to you."

"_I_ don't know what happened to me!" He struggled to stand and the man moved closer and opened his arms just a little. He frowned at the gesture and took a half step backwards, surprised at the hurt that flashed across his face. "What am I doing here? Who and you and who am I?"

"Harry?" The man's eyes widened as he asked in shock, answering at least one question though he couldn't be sure if that was supposed to be his name or the other man's. "Harry, what's the matter?"

"Is that my name?" He frowned. It seemed familiar, warm and... right.

"Oh God..." The man gasped and looked ready to move closer but then stopped and turned to the door. He yelled out for someone before moving back into the room. He made a sitting motion and 'Harry' sat himself on the edge of the bed, taking in the light trousers over his waist and legs. They didn't seem familiar though. The man crouched in front of him and his hands almost settled onto Harry's legs but then the man seemed to think better of it. Harry found himself confused but the man was seemingly familiar. "Do you remember anything before you woke up in here?"

"No." Harry frowned, seriously trying to search his memory for anything. "Do I know you?"

There were tears in the man's eyes and he wiped at his face as a young woman rushed inside. "You know me, Harry." The man whispered. "My name's John."

A rush of feeling floated up in Harry. Warmth and safety. A rogue-like smile and bright eyes. "I know you..." Harry whispered but he was still trying to convince himself and John knew it.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later**

Harry leaned forwards with his elbows on his knees as he watched the men of the village struggling with a large root. They were trying to clear more space for farming and John had offered to help. Harry had found himself offering as well but they told him to rest since he hadn't been awake all that long and everyone was concerned about his wellbeing. At least he knew that the village wasn't supposed to be familiar since none of the other people here felt like John did. John on the other hand felt extremely familiar and had barely let Harry out of his sight in the five hours since he'd woken up confused.

The pain in John's eyes, the worry hidden beneath the depths, told Harry that John really feared for Harry's lost memories. Feared them like they'd not only change everything about Harry's life but that they'd change everything in his own life too which meant that Harry was very important to John. That made Harry trust John as far as he could afford to. Something told Harry he was not a very trusting person normally. Not to mention even now he was keeping an eye on everyone in the village looking for dangers.

As to how he'd arrived in this place he had no memory whatsoever. According to John he'd come here first almost three weeks ago yet it had taken Harry time to follow him. John didn't know why he had been delayed so much though. Something had attacked Harry on the way to the village but John had arrived to almost be killed. According to John Harry had used some sort of special power to protect them but it hadn't worked that well. John told Harry he remembered watching Harry collapse and then the thing, still alive, had attacked them both and finished them off.

And supposedly one of the villagers here could heal any wound, even ones that had already taken your life. Unfortunately though, she couldn't heal mental damage and according to John it wasn't the first time that using whatever this ability was had caused him trouble like that though John promised that he'd never lost memories from it.

As he watched John work with the other men without his shirt on he started to really believe that there was something going unsaid about the relationship between the two of them. John had told him that they were soldiers together and beyond that they were friends. Harry looked up as the root broke free amidst cheers. Harry watched as John accepted a cup of water and a cloth and soon he was heading over to Harry.

"Was that exhausting work?" John teased. "Watching us do that?"

"Immensely tiring." Harry offered and John relaxed at the returned teasing. John perched himself next to Harry, wiping sweat off of his chest and face as he did. Harry found himself looking John over and he swallowed. When he looked up he found John studying his face and their eyes met. "John?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, Harry?"

"You said we were soldiers together, even friends?" Harry asked and John nodded. "Was there..." He trailed off. If he was wrong then he could offend the only person that really knew him. "Forget it."

"You still surprise me, Harry." John chuckled. "I keep forgetting how perceptive you are. Even without your memories you're still so fast at working out what really matters."

"John?" Harry frowned.

"Just ask, Harry." John nodded.

"Were you and I..." Harry paused trying to work out how to say it. "Romantic?"

John smiled happily and nodded. "We were..." He frowned. "_Are_ I mean... well..."

"I'll work it out." Harry nodded and smiled at John calmly.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"_Harry! You can't go through there!" Rodney grabbed his arm._

"_I'd say it's possible." Harry snapped back simply._

"_I know it's possible!" Rodney complained. "Doesn't mean you should! You'll get trapped too."_

"_No I won't." Harry shook his head. "You'll work it out."_

"_Harry..." Rodney frowned._

"_John's chances of survival more than quadruple if I'm there with him." Harry stated simply and he wasn't lying. In an unknown situation like this you were as good as dead if you were alone._

"_Harry..."_

"_Rodney, follow orders." Harry snapped. "Get back to Atlantis and find a way through this damn archway and come get us." Before Rodney could argue more Harry turned, grabbed the large med kit and walked straight into the portal. It felt like he was being crushed for an instant and then he was breathing air again._

Harry woke with a start, gasping in air and John slammed up into him in shock. "Harry?" He asked in concern as he pulled Harry back into his bare chest. "The same nightmare?"

Harry shook his head. Harry dreamt of storms and lightning all the time. "I think it was..." He drew in deep breaths. "I think it was a memory."

"What of?" John asked.

"Me coming here." Harry frowned and turned to look at John. He put a hand on his bare chest and pushed him flat onto his back and then lied down next to him in the dark room they shared. Over the last four weeks they'd gotten closer and while Harry hadn't remembered anything of his previous life he still found himself growing closer to John and once John was sure Harry knew what he was feeling they started to become more intimate. "Why I came through the portal."

"Why did you?" John asked softly. Harry put his head on his chest with a sigh. "Because the odds of your survival were higher with me here."

"You could have just died here with me." John sighed.

"If I felt then like I do now..." Harry shut his eyes. "I don't think I'd have cared."

"You always put the mission first before." John shook his head. "If the mission was for the safety of our expedition."

"John..." Harry trailed off and kissed John's chest gently before deciding to just drop that subject. "Who's Rodney?"

John's breath hitched and Harry looked up at the relief in his eyes. John had told him the barest details about his old life but they'd both decided that if Harry was going to know what was remembered or not he needed to rediscover things himself.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A month later**

"Harry!" John yelled loudly as he stormed the room and grabbed at his knife where it sat on the table. Testimony to how safe they'd started to feel here. People around here were cautious around their weapons so for their benefit they left them in their rooms. Harry jumped up and grabbed his own and slipped it onto his belt and dashed after John.

"What's happening?" Harry asked as they jogged out of the village and into the meadows. He noted almost automatically that they were heading towards the one way entrance.

"She saw them arrive." John told him breathlessly.

"Rodney?" Harry asked before naming the only other one he knew. "Ronan?" John nodded hastily. "They'll be attacked."

"I know!" John called before sprinting away. Harry was close on his trail and it wasn't long before they burst out into a clearing only to see a small group of people scattering. Harry focused on Rodney and Ronan automatically before he turned to take in the two women. A wave of nausea almost overwhelmed him and a headache built to almost blinding strength. They were under attack though and Harry forced himself into action even as John threw himself into the fight. The creature that had attacked John twice and Harry once was impossible to hurt though and Harry had to focus to maintain control of his weather abilities even though John had been working with him to try to control them. According to John he had impeccable control over them normally.

He made to move into the fight when a soft hand touched his elbow. "John is right, this is our problem." She told him before her and the villagers moved passed him. Light burst from them just as John was thrown clear and Harry rushed to him to check he was alright. He had a few scratch marks but nothing like what Harry had had after he'd been attacked. The creature seemed to grow in height even as Harry helped John onto his feet. It screeched before shattering into bright light but the townsfolk were all gone, except for the woman.

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked around at a vaguely familiar face. He frowned. "Harry? Are you and John okay?" She asked in concern. Harry felt dizzy and John just about managed to catch him on the way down. Harry turned to look at him but John's gasp surprised him. He felt warmth under his nose. "Is he hurt?" The woman gasped but before John could try to find an explanation for Harry's sudden nose bleed Harry's eyes darkened and he slipped into unconsciousness.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later**

"He's got dangerously high levels of neurotoxins in his brain. Not as high as when they spiked before but they've been high for months now." Carson sighed. "He's responded well to the same treatments as before and hopefully with a decrease in the levels we'll see a return of his memories as well."

"They're still intact?" John checked from where he sat next to Harry's bed watching his best friend and lover sleep away his mental damage.

"Scans don't show any physical damage to his brain. Just an imbalance that I can rectify." Carson nodded, reassuring John with his confident tone of voice. "The imbalance is blocking his memories but they should return quite quickly. If not then we'll have to consider sending him back to Earth for long-term treatment."

"When will he wake up?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm keeping him under until the levels in his brain are back to normal. I don't want to cause a reaction like when he saw you off world." Carson explained. "Perhaps a few days. I'll keep him off the active duty list for a week after that just to be on the safe side."

John nodded and waited as everyone left the room before giving into his impulse to just lightly touch the back of Harry's hand, to feel the warmth of his skin under his finger tips.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**A few days later**

John ducked into the room to find Harry sitting up in bed. It was the middle of the night when the nurse had come to get him to tell him Harry was awake. Somehow Harry had gotten the nurse to tell John before going to get Carson. "Hey." Harry smiled.

"She wouldn't tell me how you are." John complained as he sat on the edge of the bed. The door had shut and he grabbed Harry's hand.

"I'm back, John." Harry smiled. "I remember what it was like there but I remember everyone too." Harry sighed. "It's odd. To remember not remembering people."

John chuckled but let go of Harry's hand when they heard footsteps outside of the private room. "I'm glad you're okay." John whispered to him and almost looked like he wanted to kiss him. "Love you." He said quickly just before the door opened. Instantly they looked like two soldiers concerned for each other rather than two lovers. Harry smiled up at Carson.

"Can I go yet, Carson?" Harry teased. Carson just rolled his eyes.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	16. First Command

Cast Between Worlds

A/N; This story has a couple of 'slashy' moments but no explicit sex.

Warnings; **SLASH**

Chapter 16; First Command

Harry leaned forwards in his office chair and poked at the screen of his tablet as he bumped a message off to the tabs at the side and opened a different piece of software to find the internal reports sent to him by the other flights on Atlantis. He wasn't really happy to find out that he had an office when Elizabeth had gleefully informed him of such with an almost laughing John standing next to her. At least John had been laughing until Elizabeth reminded him that he was two weeks overdue on his own reports.

Between the two of them they had masses of 'paperwork' to do even though it was all done of the tablets and electronically sent to Elizabeth who collated all of the department reports and that was sent through the wormhole on their weekly report.

Harry's reports were pretty simply really provided nothing too drastic was going on. The leaders of each flight on Atlantis reported to him and normally that meant two flights of four F-302s that were permanently stationed on Atlantis, part of the First Tactical Flight Wing or TFW for short, and on the odd occasion, like now, when Viper flight was on the Daedalus he had Cobra and Adder reporting to him rather than having to collect a report on Viper flight himself. When the Daedalus arrived though he was responsible for the embarked X-304 flight's reports and needs too even though they remained under Caldwell's command. It was in the works to give Daedalus her own '304 flight in the near future but there just weren't enough '304s operational for that yet. There were only three flights on Earth, two on Atlantis and one on the Daedalus. And they wanted at least one flight at the Alpha and Beta sites too. The only reason Atlantis was getting three was because the '304s were their heavy hitters since they couldn't permanently station a BC-304, a Battlecruiser, in the Pegasus galaxy.

At any rate he had to turn all those reports into one big report which was essentially updates to personnel files back on Earth and readiness reports for his five flights and the mechanics and ground crew that reported to him as well as requisition orders for spares and more importantly the ammunition that the Daedalus brought out to them on each trip. But that was just his job as Flight Commander. He also had his role as Head of Security on Atlantis but most of the day to day tasks for that went to Captain Forks and Sergeant Bates. He met with them for at least ten minutes a day no matter what he was doing, unless he was on the 'Skirmish', to authorise things and make sure he knew what was going on.

At least his office was part of the hanger bay though which meant he could start off first thing by prepping his Viper and then do all his paperwork and was there when his flights arrived and worked in the hanger. It was the only place suitable for storing so many aircraft with a launching area just outside even if it was just for vertical take offs and landings. They could land horizontally in emergencies but the space was short and they were building sections of runway over draining channels that cut the useable length almost in half.

There was just one other section of the city capable of housing some sort of airfield but there was no space for internally storing the aircraft but Harry had designated it as their emergency airfield and as soon as an incoming attack alert went off one of the flights of F-302s and one of the X-304 flights moved location straight off to split their aerial forces in case the hanger was hit. That airfield was also larger and could take a Battlecruiser like the Daedalus if it ever had to land.

Harry finished pulling random data from Hugh's report on Adder flight and adding it to his main report and then typed a note on the bottom highlighting his concerns over Adder flight still being left hanging for a fourth member. The X-304 was flown weekly and maintained almost as often as the other 304s but it needed a permanent pilot and they needed to make their decision and either give him a new flight commander for Adder flight or a new pilot and name Hugh flight commander. Each week he made sure his report was just a little more sharp sounding to drive it home. He decided that in a few weeks he was going to write it all in red and then after that have Rodney do something to it so that it flashed and danced over the report for a while just to get his point across.

He sent his flight report directly to Elizabeth since they were technically reporting outside of the military chain of command and then sent his security report to John and sent Major Lorne, Captain Forks and Sergeant Bates a copy. He sent one to Lorne because they were equals and Harry knew he liked to be kept in the loop and as for Forks and Bates it was best to let them know he was actioning their suggestions and it saved time on him telling them what he'd passed on himself.

He was just about to unplug the detachable keyboard when he got an internal message back along with Elizabeth's confirmation. _"John would like to meet with you to discuss this afternoon's trip."_ Elizabeth had typed to him. He tapped the return message box to type his acceptance and was quickly told that John would meet him in the hanger. John often came down in the mornings with Harry to chat or talk business while Harry did his pre-flight checks. Since Harry was taking his Viper to the continent this afternoon as part of this next week's Skirmish John had obviously figured Harry had more work to do with it. In reality Harry needed to pack the small bays with his own gear. His weapons would remain live as a precaution but he didn't plan on even pretending to shoot at those going through the training this week.

What he did like was that this week it was just John and him going as overseers. John was taking a Jumper to act as a base and cloaked recon ship to monitor them without spooking them and Harry was looking forward to some peaceful time with John after the stress of what had happened with losing his memories the week before.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That afternoon**

"Jumper one and two, this is Viper-one. Flyby, circle and land at your discretion." Harry ordered simply as he spotted the two jumpers far out on the horizon with his scope. He backed up to his Viper which was sitting near the cliff that dropped down three hundred feet to the forest below which stretched west towards the horizon. Behind him was a long slow drop down towards the vast ocean beyond the settlement and then off towards Atlantis far in the east. Rodney told him that this cliff was due to a fault-line that had probably been dormant for millennia, a sub-fault branching off the main ones out to sea. Harry just liked it because it stretched north and south like a defensive wall. It turned a little less severe further south and most of the teams headed that way to find a way down even though the easiest route down was actually towards the mountain range to the north. The cliff got way bigger up that way but there was a pass about a day's hike in that direction that gently took you down to the plains below and got you more fresh water.

One of the marine teams had found that route on their second trial because they had decided on the mind set of 'what-the-hell, might as well have some fun'. If teams went further south they'd find a way down about a day and a half's hike south and end up finding drier routes through a few long miles of marsh land before the forest gave them purchase. Either way both teams this week would be camping on top of the cliff the first night since they wouldn't attempt a suicidal trip down.

The Jumpers flew overhead, dipped down towards the sprawling forest before turning and pulling slowly up to clear the cliff. It gave the teams a good look at the fact there was no chance of climbing that cliff safely before the Jumpers slipped over Harry and his Viper and set down with their rear doors towards the cliff face. The teams quickly piled out and Harry directed them all to transferring the extra and emergency supplies into Jumper Two which John was keeping for the week and then once Jumper One was clear it took back off to drop some supplies off at the settlement before returning to Atlantis.

"Alright, find a spot and park it." Harry ordered sharply to the sixteen. It was large groups this time. Two groups but both simulating two off-world teams even though none of the eight marines or eight 'civilians' were in fact on the normal off-world teams. Four were in fact new since the last time the Daedalus dropped in and none of the rest had been here more than a few months. They all settled down on the ground just as John joined Harry by the nose of his Viper. John leaned his shoulder on the nose and Harry turned to frown at him before shoving him off.

"Hey!" John complained even as the marines snickered quietly.

"It doesn't need your help holding it up… sir." Harry tacked on the last bit. John just rolled his eyes and pretended to rub the pain from his shoulder. "Right then first things first I hope you've made yourselves known to your team mates." He got mostly nods. "Part of the point of this week is to get to know people better hence why you'll recognise people in your teams as those you probably already work with on the city. This'll give you a chance to really get to know the strengths and weaknesses of your team mates."

Harry turned and walked to his open cockpit, he jumped up a few fold out steps and hit a couple of buttons. His Viper hummed and his missile bay doors snapped open and six racks of missiles and bombs folded out. "We might be on Atlantis' home planet but that does not mean there aren't things to hurt you lurking around. The worst of which is a creature very similar to a bull but that eats meat and hunts in packs. This is not target practice and we are not here to kill off the local wildlife but that does not mean that these are duds or that the marines in your teams are not carrying live ammunition."

"When we talk about safety here on this exercise we mean it." John added in.

"Can we hunt for food?" One of the marines raised his hand.

"No." John shook his head. "As per our agreement with the Athosians we do not hunt the wildlife here. The Athosians are careful where they hunt food and we don't want to step on their toes. Feel free to eat the fruit but stay clear of anything that is not on your crib sheets. Other things might poison you."

"Now the scenario here is simple." Harry started. "Back to the east is a settlement that you have been visiting over the last few days in your groups. A science team and a marine team as escort. There are no particular people in charge and how you plan and make decisions is really up to you." He paused as they all looked around their groups before starting up again. "You spend a lovely night in comfortable beds but when your designated pilot starts up your Jumper for a survey of the area it doesn't work. None of you are qualified or even qualified enough at guesswork to get it working again so you need to plan accordingly."

"We have radios, sir?" One of the Corporals pointed his out. They were kitted out exactly as they would be normally with radios, code emitters for the shield on the gate and their tracking systems.

"You have and can operate anything you have on you." Harry nodded. "Exactly what you would have on a mission like this. Your mission is to get all of your team safely back through the 'gate' and back to your lovely quarters and hot showers."

"This is your chance to get answers to the fine points of this exercise. Anything you don't think to ask now will leave you guessing later." John announced.

The groups muttered together for a while and a couple of the marines pulled out pen and notebook to jot down questions though there didn't seem to be many. "Where's the Stargate, Major Potter?" One of the biologists asked shyly.

"Found it!" A marine in the other team grinned and help up the tracking device each team would have. "To the probe we normally send through the gate."

"Just as you would leave a beacon by the gate on a mission like this." John nodded. "Next?"

"How far is that?" Another of the scientists from the first team asked across to the second.

"That team doesn't exist." Harry cut in.

"It's okay." One of the marines from his own group spoke up. "Forty kilometres in a direct line."

"And Major Potter picked this lovely location because you _can't_ go in a direct line. There's nothing too technical about any route you can take but don't try to be heroes. Speed isn't the objective here right now." John added in.

"Sir?" One of the scientists from the second group started. "Surely if we don't report in as scheduled on the first day Atlantis will dial the gate and contact us by radio. Can't we just have them send a Jumper?"

"And I'm sure Atlantis will call." John nodded but just left it at that. "You are to use your designated channels. Don't switch to listen to one another. Stick to them." By the time it was dark and they were setting up camp for the night Harry would call both groups one at a time as Atlantis, learn of the 'situation' and then tell them the bad news that one of their Jumpers was out on a mission and the other available one was broken.

"Is this 'planet' we're visiting known for any enemy presence, sir?" One of the marines asked.

"They haven't been raided in eight years but you never know." Harry shrugged. He didn't plan on doing any of that until they were at least a few days into their journey.

"So as we're not expecting any Jumper without contact from Atlantis we can assume any aircraft that doesn't state itself as friendly is in fact an enemy?" Another marine asked.

"Follow your standing orders on that matter." John stated simply. Which essentially meant don't fire on a target you can't destroy and don't attack a target that might not have even seen you.

"Any chance any of us got a good survey of the terrain between the gate and the settlement?" One of the scientists asked.

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "Did you?"

They all groaned at that since the answer was no since none of them had any sort of map. "This one isn't going to be so bad, especially not compared to exercises that the marines have gone through before. They can all tell you some stories to pass the time. This is a 'get yourself home' exercise rather than a 'keep yourself alive one' so you can try to enjoy it." Harry told them with a grin.

"But keep in mind that Major Potter can be rather… changeable with his plans." John smirked. "So don't be surprised if the shit hits the fan."

"Yay." One of the marines deadpanned.

"Right." Harry nodded happily. "Keep yourselves safe and have some fun. Oh and please don't just follow the other team all the way into hell."

"That's a good way for the shit to suddenly decide to hit the fan." One of the marines muttered to a friend just loud enough for them all to hear.

"Exactly." Harry announced happily. "And don't worry since with the Jumper here we can track your body heat from miles away so we'll know where you are if something happens."

"Have fun." John announced and punched Harry lightly on the arm. Harry nodded and climbed up into his Viper before waving down at the groups who scrambled to grab their kit and get well out of the way as Harry shut the cockpit and started up the ion drive. He skidded it up just a foot from the ground and tipped himself back off of the cliff and out of sight before twisting around and punching out across the forest. He circled around to where John and he planned to spend the first night and shut everything down and locked it up tightly for the night as John landed. They'd cloak and go back up to watch the groups start off but there was little they could do to get themselves into trouble on the first day.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That evening**

The Jumper sat innocently on a ledge quite high up the range of mountains on the far side of the valley not far from where the 'Stargate' was for the exercise and Harry's Viper was sitting not far away. Harry and John had set up their roll mats on the floor of the Jumper side by side and opened out their sleeping bags one on top of the other as a bed but in such a way that they could quickly make it two beds but the chances of anyone finding them here, a five day walk from the settlement, was slim. The only people that could come to them in short order was somebody from Atlantis in a Jumper but Atlantis was more likely to radio them first so they could relax.

They'd just had a pretty long session of kissing as they stripped each other and just cuddled for a while as the sun set knowing that within the next hour as it got darker for the two teams they'd set up camp and look to getting food out. Right now though Harry was happy. He was on his back with John laying over him and Harry's softening cock was still inside his lover but John wasn't one to just sit still for long and he soon pulled himself up and rolled to the side to stretch out his muscles since he'd done eighty percent of the work over the last half an hour.

"You're really vocal when you want to be." Harry grinned sideways at his friend, lover and commanding officer.

"I'm making the most of the fact we're completely alone." John grinned in amusement before tugging at Harry to pull him against his side. "Shouldn't we sort the teams out?" John prompted.

"How about I do that and you make us hot rations." Harry bargained.

John nodded. "At least the Jumper's filtration is good enough we don't have to go outside."

"Yeah, I get to watch you cook naked." Harry grinned before rolling onto his back and grabbing his radio and the headset. He plugged the headset in but left the speaker running as he shifted to watch John get up and head for the rations. Harry just loved John like this, completely carefree and completely naked. Especially with the just-shagged look he was wearing.

Harry grabbed a small device he'd pulled from stores and activated it on one frequency. They'd had to mess with the IDCs for this so he could select each group separately or he'd have both teams talking to him at the same time. He checked his radio was on team one's frequency knowing the Jumper was monitoring both channels as well as the link to Atlantis and then checked he'd received the return signal from the team. Their IDCs would have alerted them to the fact that the Stargate had activated.

"SG-5, this is Atlantis, over." He stated simply as John crouched to light the burner for some food. Harry took a second to admire the view between his legs to his low hanging balls but blinked himself back to reality as his radio came back to life.

"_Atlantis, this is SG-5, over."_ One of the marines responded.

"You're overdue for your daily check-in." He told them. "Is life that boring out there that you all took a nap?"

John looked back at him with a raised eyebrow but didn't comment. _"Uh… negative, Atlantis."_ He knew which Marine it was now and he'd be having trouble knocking off the sarcasm. _"Our Jumper is US so we started back for the Stargate."_

"That's quite a walk, SG-5." Harry told them with a grin.

"_Uh, yeah. Any chance of a pick up?"_ The team asked.

"That's a negative I'm afraid, SG-5." They wouldn't be all that surprised in that. "We've got one out on mission and Lieutenant Colonel Shepard nose-dived one at the settlement."

"Hey!" John complained before Harry took his finger off the button. He knew the Marines would have heard that.

"We'll put repairs on priority and come collect you as soon as we can but for now continue to head for the gate. We'll dial every six hours for a report and as soon as we can we'll pick you up." Harry declared. "What's your sit-rep and position from the gate?"

He rolled over to grab his notebooks. _"All understood, Atlantis. We're eight in number and all in good health and supplies. Not much in the way of dangerous indigenous here so it's just a long trudge through the wilderness."_ The marine played along. _"We're currently thirty-seven kilometres from the Stargate on a bearing of one-zero-two magnetic but the terrain isn't suitable for a direct route."_

Harry was glad they'd been keeping an eye on their position geographically. Their trackers pointed them towards the beacon and told them the distance but without GNSS satellites like NAVSTAR it couldn't tell you your location. But using the planet's magnetic north they could give themselves a geographical location that Harry could plot on his survey map which was orientated to magnetic north for this exercise rather than the geographic north pole that the Jumpers could navigate to.

"Roger that." Harry agreed. "We'll dial again in six hours."

"_Copy that, Atlantis."_

"Atlantis out." Harry switched off the transmitter to their beacon. Harry shifted his systems around to contact the other group and went through almost the exact same conversation with them except he was talking to one of the scientists this time but clearly one with knowledge of hiking since he didn't have to fish for the information he needed. In the end it was obvious that team one had reduced their walking speed to fall back from team two as both teams had chosen to head south along the ridge.

By the time he was finished John had sorted them out some food and they sat side by side and ate through a nice meal of fresh food from the settlement before tidying up. Harry was just moving to lie down again when John grabbed him and pushed him face down onto the bedding and then pinned him with his body.

Harry groaned as he felt John's cock growing against him and didn't resist as he let John have his way with him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Three days later**

Harry and John had given them two nights of peace and quiet as the groups cleared the marsh area and moved uphill a little away from the river and into the forest once more and knowing how at ease the groups were feeling now he decided on the third day to buzz the groups in the Viper with John cloaked to assess their reactions. The groups were only three kilometres apart. The lead group, team two, had decided on a more direct line and were thus having it a little harder trudging through bogs and marshes between the hills whereas team one, though slowly falling behind, were following the contours and having a much easier time of it. They were going to take longer to reach the Stargate but they finished the day with more energy and were more prepared if something happened. They'd purposely walk to the summit of the hills on each occasion and sketch out everything they could see in all directions and plan a route by what they could visually see. Team two were doing the same thing but only if their path took them to near the summits.

There wasn't anything really wrong in either plan and he wouldn't be picking them up for either but team one's plan was more to his own style though when on the summits they were very exposed to enemy searches but that wasn't a problem before he buzzed the teams. They were so close together but in separate valleys that team one got warning when they heard the sound of his engines as he travelled up the valley in an eastwards direction. He spotted team two because he knew where they were but John was already cloaked near them and at the first sound of something artificial the entire team hid themselves out of sight.

He disappeared into the east out of sight for almost twenty minutes, as if raiding the imaginary settlement near the ridge before he headed back towards the gate, though this time buzzing team one further to the north and they were well out of even his hope of spotting them.

They were so quick to hide, even team one which hadn't had any warning, that he didn't plan to do it again but he would monitor their reactions and if he decided they weren't being cautious enough when camped out or even while travelling he would change his plans again and hit them harder. Maybe buzz them at night or block the nicest route with a camp of Wraith.

He was just settling back towards their staging post when his Viper gave him an alert that he'd programmed in to remind him that Atlantis was about to dial Earth for their weekly report. He'd already organised it so that his and John's own mail was brought out to them so they could work through their reports before going back to the city.

He was taken by surprise not two minutes later when his subspace receiver came up onto his HUD with an emergency alert from the USS Daedalus which to his estimate had to be a hell of a long way away. It was basic but the first line made him jump into action.

"Flash. Atlantis, this is Viper One. Confirm receipt of emergency burst from Daedalus and confirm Stargate is shut down." He demanded through the radio knowing that on this frequency and with the fact he'd sent emergency transmission codes his voice would have automatically come across the speakers.

There was a worrying pause and he punched higher up towards the atmosphere, ignoring John for the moment in order to be in a better position to get a sensor lock on Atlantis. He'd hit the black to get there as fast as possible if necessary. He skimmed the contents of the message but barely got one line in before Atlantis was transmitting. _"Viper one, this is Atlantis Control. Message received and Stargate disengaged and locked out. Wait one for Doctor Weir."_

He acknowledged before starting a spiralling decent back towards where his Viper had the Jumper on sensors. John had stayed with the teams just in case knowing that Harry would talk to him soon. He selected a local frequency and while monitoring Atlantis' transmissions he called up John as he read through the burst from the Daedalus. "John, it's Harry. Sorry about that."

"_What's going on, Harry?"_ John demanded knowing that nobody else was on this frequency within range.

"The Daedalus sent an emergency burst on sublight from between the galaxies. Literally the edge of its range. Earth got intelligence that Atlantis has been sabotaged somehow. Supposedly we were going to be destroyed as soon as we dialled back to Earth for our check-in." Harry told him.

"_That's called cutting it close."_ John pointed out unhappily.

"Hence why I made to hit the black." Harry told him referring to his rapid ascent though John wouldn't have heard his transmission to Atlantis. "Wait one, John." He stated as he heard Elizabeth on his link to Atlantis.

"_Viper one, this is Atlantis."_ Elizabeth called him. _"I assume your Viper picked up the burst from Daedalus?"_

"Yes it did."He nodded to himself as he brought the Viper around to slowly slip across the forest basin. "I've told Colonel Shepard about the situation."

"_I need you and John back here now." _She told him.

"Confirmed." Harry announced. "I'll bring this exercise to a halt but I need another Jumper to come out to pick up the second team."

"_I'll send Jumper three out now." _She told him as Harry adjusted his angle to head for team one's position. He'd tell them of the situation as he pinged their location to Jumper three and let John pick up team two.

"I'll hit the black and be with you shortly." Harry declared. "Permission to scramble Cobra to the black just in case?"

"_I was just wondering the same." _Elizabeth nodded. _"Put all flights on standby and launch Cobra flight into orbit."_

"Roger that." Harry nodded before activating the flight link that Hugh Stevens and Justin Knight, the Flight Commanders for Adder and Cobra flight respectively as well as the hangers themselves. "All Flight, all flights. Move to immediate notice. Fuel and test power birds and standby for orders. Cobra flight you have permission to launch. Notify Atlantis Control when ready to launch and take up position in orbit directly above Atlantis and go dark. Priority One orders apply. Maintain radio silence for now. All flights report confirmation of orders."

He got Hugh and Justin's confirmations instantly and then one of the pilots from the eight F-302s reported confirmation. He banked around and took up a hover above team one who had taken cover as part of the exercise. He selected both teams' frequencies using his Viper and included John who had probably been getting antsy but he would have heard his call to the flights since he'd had to transmit over something in addition to the X-304 link. "All stations, all stations, this is Viper One. Exercise is scrubbed. Teams are to hold position. Team two will be extracted by Jumper two shortly. Jumper three is en-route from Atlantis, team one move to a suitable pick up point. On arrival on Atlantis report to your senior officers or department heads for briefing on current situation. Confirm receipt."

"_Viper one, this is team one. Confirming receipt."_

"_Viper one, this is team two. Confirming receipt."_

"_Viper one, this is Jumper two. Moving to pick up team two. I'll see you on Atlantis."_ John declared.

Harry slipped sideways away from team one before hitting his throttle. He headed up towards thinner atmosphere and it only took about fifteen minutes for him to skim the atmosphere and adjust for re-entry towards Atlantis. His Viper picked up the four X-304s of Cobra flight hanging spread out directly above Atlantis and he wasn't too surprised they'd moved so fast. He ignored them for the time being and headed for Atlantis and was soon powering down alongside Adder flight and two of the F-302 flights waiting on their little runway. All of the pilots were nearby as well as the few members of their crew and a marine squad that was stationed in the hanger when Atlantis went on alert.

"We still on city-wide alert?" He asked the Marines who nodded.

"We were told we'd remain on alert until you and Colonel Sheppard were back to meet with the senior staff and make a plan." The Sergeant in charge of this security outpost declared.

"Alright." He nodded. "Do you know what is going on?" He asked the three Adders, sixteen F-302 pilots, eight marines and two tech staff. They all shook their heads.

"We received a burst transmission from the Daedalus warning of a device somehow wired into the Stargate activation. We got the message seconds before we would have dialled Earth for our weekly report." Harry looked at all their shocked faces. "We got very lucky. Be ready for anything and wait for further orders."

"Yes, Sir." Hugh nodded sharply.

"Listen to the reports but for now start and full sweep of the aircraft and contact the beta group to do the same. I want to make sure there is nothing amongst our ammunition or stores that would cause a problem and make one hundred percent sure that our aircraft haven't been tampered with." Harry ordered and they were soon doing as commanded.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Ten minutes later**

By the time he reached the control tower he found that John had already landed. The teams were going to be given a short time to wash up and get some hot food from the canteen before they'd be sent to the designated positions around the city. He walked into the control room to find John talking to Ronan, Rodney and Elizabeth. He took a quick look around and noted the two Wraith Cruisers that they'd been watching for a while now as they passed them by. They were just another addition to the current situation.

"Anything?" Harry asked as he joined the conversation.

"Right now we don't know any more than what was in that message." Elizabeth shook her head.

"I want you to send the marines to check out the systems you targeted." John told Harry and winced as Harry flinched at the reminder.

"The Marines are already stationing at all major systems but I'll have the power distribution checked." Harry nodded and stepped away for a moment. He called up Lieutenant Cadman.

"_Cadman here."_ She declared over the military net.

"Organise a full search of critical systems." He ordered. "Captain Forks, for now you're in charge of search team designation but I want Cadman checking out the shield generator and ZPM room. Look for any signs of tampering."

"_Roger that." _Cadman declared.

Rodney, John and Elizabeth looked at him as he arrived back. "I've got the marines starting searches of all critical systems but I've sent Cadman to the shield generator and then the ZPM room."

"I hate to do this, Harry…" Elizabeth sighed. "We all trust this isn't you but we need your expertise."

"I spent months planning to destroy this city." Harry nodded and knew everyone in the control room was eyeing him. "But I think we need to look deeper. I was limited in my knowledge of ancient technology. I could get through locks but I had to use my own command code. But I wasn't worried about my own anonymity. It was never part of the plan for me to survive."

John and Elizabeth flinched at that. "But there are a lot of people here that have better knowledge than me of this technology. People who could interfere with the programs and hide their trails. Not to mention if we start involving the Goa'uld." Harry continued.

"So if you had unlimited knowledge of these systems, or say… my knowledge… what would you do?" Rodney asked.

Harry decided not to comment on his ego. "The most effective way of destroying this city is the ZPM. Find a way to destroy that…"

"And you'd take out the city." Rodney nodded. "Not to mention the planet."

"Then we need to find signs of tampering." Harry nodded.

"Rodney, get focused on the city's systems. John, Harry, join the search." Elizabeth ordered.

They all broke apart but Harry caught Elizabeth's arm before she could leave. "We need to be thinking about the Daedalus' crew and passenger list." He warned her. "She left only days ago so chances are whoever did this is on board. I'm not ruling out suicides here but the chances are they wanted away."

"I'll order her back." Elizabeth nodded. "And go through the lists myself."

Harry nodded and slipped out of the room, glad he was already fully armed from his exercise on the mainland. He joined the marines and pilots in the hangers going over all of their systems knowing that other than the ZPM itself the Ion Cores were the biggest source of explosion on the city.

He heard Elizabeth calling John and then Ronan before she called him up. "By the looks of it nothing on the X-304s have been touched and the hangers look clean but I want to bring Adder flight down so they can be checked." Harry told her.

"_Alright…"_ She started before trailing off. Harry could hear the Stargate spinning up behind her and commotion. Evidently the gate was dialling out by itself. He heard it wind down and then someone calling out just as his X-304s comms gear alarmed. He'd had the systems running and he spotted Hugh, Izzy and John in their own cockpits straightening up as their own 304s went into alarm. He raised a hand to them because he could hear the happenings in the control room.

"_Did I just hear that right?" _John asked.

"_The gate dialled itself to distract us from the transmitter."_ Rodney confirmed.

"And it just transmitted a distress signal." Harry informed them. "My Viper picked it up."

"_And they aren't the only ones." _Rodney didn't sound happy. _"Those Wraith Cruisers have altered course. They're heading straight for us."_

"I'm swapping out my flights." Harry declared.

"_Are you going up?"_ John asked him.

"Affirmative." Harry nodded. "I can swap back out once Cobra Flight is confirmed clean but I need a four flight team in the air."

"_Roger that."_ John agreed with him.

Harry circled a hand over his head at the other three and then jumped out to change into flight gear even as the other three did the same. In two minutes Harry was powering up his Ion Drive.

"Atlantis control this is Viper one with Adder two, three and four. Permission to launch for relief of Cobra flight?" He requested.

"_You have a go for launch, Viper-One."_ Chuck told him quickly.

"Adder-two, you have the ball." Harry declared letting Hugh run his own flight, even including him.

"_Adder-four, go." _Hugh ordered and Izzy took off vertically and banked back out of the way, keeping low to the water around the city. _"Adder-three, go."_ John took off a few feet before sliding back off of the runway and out to join Izzy. _"Viper-one, go. Take lead of formation."_

Harry accepted that and slipped up into the air and up over the city, letting Izzy and John and then Hugh slip up around him. Harry pulled up Cobra flight. "Cobra flight this is Viper-one. Relief in two minutes." He warned the orbital '304s before rotating towards the sky and hitting the power. They were soon in the black and closing with the hanging Cobra flight which were running on low power to avoid detection by anything coming into the system. They powered up sharply and Harry circled them as they put on power enough to fall into formation.

"Cobra-one, you are relieved. Land and check your craft over for sabotage. Don't rush it and do it right. Report to Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard once complete." Harry ordered.

"_Cobra-one confirming."_ Justin Knight stated before turning his flight down towards the city.

"Adder-two and four. Do an orbital sweep." Harry ordered. "Adder-three detach and power down directly above the city."

Hugh and Izzy broke away and turned to circle the planet on a random trajectory as Harry and John slowed to geosynchronous orbit over the city and powered right down.

It was almost three hours before his sensors went into alarm and highlighted a ship emerging from Hyperspace. The Daedalus burst into existence and turned straight towards them. "Atlantis control, this is Viper-one. I have the Daedalus visual. Orders?"

"_Tell Colonel Caldwell to land. I'll meet him on the Daedalus."_ Elizabeth declared.

By this point Hugh and Izzy had re-joined them and the four of them hung in space. Harry watched for a while as the Daedalus closed rapidly without spotting them and left them to it until they were just that little bit too close.

"Adder flight, power up and fall into escort position on the Daedalus." Harry ordered as he pulled up the power on his Ion Core. The Daedalus didn't noticeably react but he could imagine that little manoeuvre had drawn their undivided attention. Harry slipped just over the bow of the Battlecruiser and skimmed the upper surface before spinning around and falling into position just above the bridge. Hugh, Izzy and John fell in around the Daedalus.

"Daedalus, this is Viper-One." Harry declared. "Doctor Weir requests that you land on the East Pier. Doctor Weir requests permission to board once you have landed."

"_All copied, Viper-one."_ That was Caldwell and he didn't sound amused which made Harry frown. Caldwell was normally happy to test the limits of the Daedalus against the '304s but then again this was a pretty serious situation.

Harry watched as the Daedalus slipped down through atmosphere and went back to lingering with Adder flight. Over the next hour he got a call from John to tell him that they'd found a problem with the fail safes that protected the ZPM. Somebody had gone in and shut down the city's fail safes that prevented the ZPM from overloading when something drew on it in such a way that the city itself didn't recognise the problem. The problem was that to reactivate the system they needed the saboteur's access code. John didn't say it over the radio but he knew that they had a suspect.

It was another hour before his radio came alive again. _"Viper-one this is Atlantis-control."_

"Go ahead Atlantis control." Harry prompted.

"_We're preparing to cloak the city and need you to land."_ Chuck announced.

"Roger that. Clear us for approach." Harry declared.

"_You're cleared to land."_ Chuck told him and Harry powered up and wiggled his wings knowing that Adder flight would have heard the conversation. They powered up too and fell into a loose formation and followed him down into atmosphere. Within a couple of minutes they were landing in concert and shutting down.

"Atlantis control. We are grounded." Harry declared as he powered his Viper down.

"_Cloaking now."_ Rodney declared over all of the networks. Harry couldn't see or feel anything from the cloak like he could from the shield but since Rodney didn't complain it had obviously worked. He did his post-flight checks and talked to all of his pilots and the two Marines that had been left with his ground crew to watch over the Vipers. He gave the orders to weaponise all of the 304s to their maximum in case this didn't work and they had to launch. He left them on immediate notice and left Justin in charge. He was armed with his pistol and his Sai but he stayed in his pilot gear just in case they needed to launch. If the cloak came down then the 304s would have to help the Daedalus take out the Wraith Cruisers.

He found out quite quickly that Doctor Peter Kavanagh was their prime suspect and he was being held in one of the meeting rooms under armed guard. Harry had his own doubts however but he headed up to the control room regardless to see that something else had happened. He touched John on the back and his lover turned to him and sighed out in relief even though Harry's presence wasn't going to solve anything.

"The inertial dampeners just came online." John told him making Rodney spin to take in Harry. The Doctor opened his mouth to explain.

"Which means the Stardrive is about to kick in and overload the ZPM." Harry nodded getting a surprised look from Rodney. "It's an aircraft… of course I know about the Stardrive. How long do we have?"

"Thirty minutes." Rodney declared.

"My office." Elizabeth prompted them all. Harry frowned but turned and walked in the other direction. John gave him a look but went on his way. Harry walked across to where the Marines were guarding the interlocking doors of the meeting room and gestured to them. Stackhouse nodded to him and opened the door and Harry walked straight in.

Clearly Kavanagh wasn't expecting to see him though. Harry leaned on the other side of the table as the door shut behind him. That seemed to worry Kavanagh. "Doctor, you know what lengths I will go to in order to save this city?"

"Sure." Kavanagh nodded.

"You and I haven't really had any sort of time in each other's presence." Harry pointed out. "But I've heard plenty about you. You don't have many friends here and you're quite vocal in regards to Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard's work here."

"And that makes me guilty?" Kavanagh frowned.

"Do you think it does?" Harry asked before shaking his head. "Honestly I don't think so. As much as you don't like your superiors in this case I know people like you. You wouldn't willingly destroy your best chance of making something of your work."

That seemed to surprise Kavanagh. "Which means either it's not you or, like I was, you're being forced to damage or destroy this city."

"It's not me." Kavanagh growled out but Harry saw the look in his eye. He as at least telling the truth.

"Well then, you'd better do everything you can to make sure we don't all die in…" He checked his watch. "Twenty-six minutes."

"What!?" Kavanagh was shocked and that told Harry everything he needed to know.

"We're cloaked but the inertial dampeners just powered up." Harry told him. "Which means in twenty-six minutes the Stardrive will power up and… bang."

"It's not me." Kavanagh repeated weakly.

"I believe you." Harry nodded. "But if you were being forced, by a Goa'uld no less, they wouldn't have selected you to be host. You're not trusted enough. Obviously." Harry stood up. "Use this time to try to work out who this could be."

"I have been." Kavanagh declared. "If I was out there I'd be looking into the historical entries to find a hole that shouldn't be there. Somebody had to access the system to make a change and that would be logged so somebody has to have deleted that log entry."

"I'll make sure you're not left here if we have to evacuate." Harry nodded and turned for the door. He knocked and it opened.

"Sir?" Stackhouse asked.

"He's not the one we're after." Harry shrugged. "Make sure he's not left behind."

"You want us to release him?" Stackhouse asked.

"Not while whoever this really is thinks we suspect him." Harry shook his head before ducking across the way into the control room. "Who's working on finding a hole in the logs?" He demanded loudly.

"McKay told us to focus on finding a way passed the access code." Chuck told him.

"All of you?" Harry demanded only to smirk when Lieutenant Cadman, at the back of the room, raised her hand. "Good on you, Lieutenant. Just keep ignoring McKay and find me that answer."

"Yes, Sir." She nodded and got back to work. Harry walked through into Elizabeth's office only for Ronan to head his own way. He grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him back into the office only for Caldwell to head out the other door. He watched the man leave before turning to Elizabeth, Rodney and John.

"Where are you sending Ronan?" He asked.

"To get the codes from Kavanagh." John sighed.

"Well that's of no use." Harry shrugged. "He doesn't have them. He's innocent."

"What!?" Rodney gasped. "It _has_ to be him."

"No it doesn't." Harry shook his head. "Trust me, it isn't him. He's not willingly doing this and nobody would choose the most distrusted person on Atlantis to be a spy."

"Then who is it?" John demanded only for Cadman to rush into the room.

"I told Cadman to find out." Harry shrugged as Cadman handed a tablet to Rodney who look it over. "She had the right idea all along. Kavanagh would have suggested it hours ago if anybody had asked him what he thought."

"Harry…" John winced.

"It's Colonel Caldwell…" Rodney whispered out.

"That makes sense." Harry nodded. "A senior officer with full access to a Battlecruiser and Atlantis. Easy to do anything he wants."

"The Colonel? Betray us?" Elizabeth frowned.

"Easy enough if you put a Goa'uld into him." Harry shrugged.

"How do we get codes from a Goa'uld?" Rodney asked.

"Unpleasantly." Harry nodded. "I'll deal with this. Elizabeth, Rodney. Prepare to evacuate if this goes pear-shaped."

He reached for his flight-link as he walked out with Ronan and John towards the meeting room. "Viper-two. Priority call." He ordered and quickly heard a double click. "Iain, I need you to take this radio to Hermiod."

"_On my way, one."_ Iain declared quickly.

"If we need to evac then the Daedalus needs a Commander." John reminded him. "That's you."

Harry grumbled but soon he was gesturing to Stackhouse. "He's no longer a prisoner." He declared. "Go help the evacuation efforts."

Stackhouse nodded as John went in and told Kavanagh he was free to leave. _"One, this is two. I have Hermiod and Novak here."_

Novak was the chief engineer on the Daedalus and she was someone Harry liked. "Hermiod, this is Major Potter. I need a favour. We know who sabotaged Atlantis but we need your help to get him into our custody. Right now he's sitting in command of the Daedalus and I can't risk a head on assault and we don't have time." Harry declared. "We're in Atlantis' meeting room. Can you please transport Colonel Caldwell to my locator beacon?"

"_I will do as you ask."_ The Asgard told him quietly.

It only took five seconds before a bright white flash erupted in the middle of the room and John drew his sidearm and took aim. "I'd call you Colonel but it's not really is it?" Harry tempted and got the reaction he wanted when the Colonel's eyes burned with a glint of gold.

"I am Goa'uld. We possess the strength of many men." The Goa'uld in the Colonel declared.

"It's not your strength I'm interested in." Harry declared simply as Ronan made to move forwards to beat the information out of him. "And we don't have time so I am very sorry about this, Colonel."

Harry's eyes clouded over with storms and a wind whistled through the city as he went to work quickly but all the wind and the sudden rise in temperature were only side effects as he pulled all of the static charge in the air towards the room they were in. His eyes remained clouded over but this was another thing he and Rodney had trialled before but he'd never been too successful with it but right now it was his only option. He stepped away from John and Ronan and the Goa'uld lurched forwards to attack him. Except when his hand was just about to touch him Harry connected the Colonel to the static charge throughout the room and earthed him to the floor.

A loud snap echoed through the room as a flash of weak lightning hit the Colonel's hand and ran straight through him. It wasn't powerful enough to do actual physical damage but it was just as good as tasering him.

The Colonel hit the floor and his eyes burnt brightly as the Goa'uld resisted. Harry hit him again and the Colonel went limp. "Colonel?" John prompted.

"Sheppard…" The Colonel gasped. "Code…"

Harry grabbed the pen and paper from his trouser pocket and copied it down before handing it to John who rushed from the room with Ronan. "Security detail to meeting room." Harry demanded through the radio and in a matter of seconds Bates and Stakehouse were rushing in and taking in the sight. "Take him to the cells." Harry sighed. "It's the real Colonel for now so go gentle but soon enough it'll be Goa'uld again."

Stackhouse and Bates moved forwards and helped pick the Colonel up between them. Harry stopped them. "We'll sort this out, Colonel." Caldwell just nodded to him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

"The Daedalus needs a Commander, Harry." John argued as they all sat around the table at their daily meeting. It was supposed to be daily but they rarely actually managed to do it every day.

"It has a Commander." Harry pointed out.

"It needs a temporary Commander until Hermiod can take out the Goa'uld Symbiote and even then the Air Force wants to hold Colonel Caldwell under surveillance until he can be assessed." Elizabeth sighed.

"He was imprisoned by a Goa'uld." Harry argued. "He doesn't need surveillance."

"Any other person who has been imprisoned by the enemy or forced to do something like he has would be required to take leave." John pointed out. "You know that as well as anyone else."

"Don't bring in my screw ups, John." Harry grumbled. "It's not fair."

"It's your fault for winning that game." John teased, shooting Harry a caring look.

"Git." Harry shot Harry a similar look before remembering that Elizabeth was there too. "What about Major Meyers?" Harry asked. "Isn't she the senior officer on the Daedalus? Not to mention actually part of the crew?"

"She has stated that she isn't happy taking command for the return trip." Elizabeth demanded. "She'll still serve as second-in-command."

"I don't like it." Harry grumbled. "My place is here."

"It's either take the Daedalus back along with the Colonel and Viper flight or wormhole back and wait around for its return." John pointed out.

"Huh?" Harry turned to him.

"The Air Force wants you back as soon as possible. Delayed only if you take Command of the Daedalus to bring it back." Elizabeth told him and pushed over a USB stick. "The decision has been made to open Atlantis out as a training centre for X-304s. Like you said, to make the most of stationing three X-304 flights on Atlantis."

"You'll be head of training here as well." John laughed.

"Shut it you." Harry growled.

"All the details are there." Elizabeth told him. "And you've got time to sort things out here before you go. And there's word on replacing Brokewell too."

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"They decided to take your suggestion and give the job to Iain. He'll take the job as soon as you and he return with the trainees." Elizabeth told him.

"And who is replacing Iain on my flight?" Harry had figured it was likely Iain would get the job and it was a good chance for Iain to get a promotion even if he'd find it hard to find a wingman good enough to replace him.

"You'll be training him or her." Elizabeth explained. "You get your choice out of all the trainees. They'll all be split up between the eight current Flights as they become ten Flights."

"So I'm losing two of my pilots from Adder and Cobra?" Harry frowned.

"No." He shook his head. "Earth is taking up the slack since they're increasing their available flights. Apart from Iain taking Brokewell's place and you getting to choose his replacement we wont be affected."

"So who are the trainees?" He prompted.

"Their files are all there." Elizabeth declared. "All eight new recruits are coming here along with the four new dual-seaters."

"Sounds okay." Harry nodded.

"So are you taking the Daedalus back or jumping a wormhole?" John asked.

"I'll take the crate back." Harry grumbled. "I'll place Captain Knight in Command of the Flights here and Captain Forks can take Head of Security."

"I think the Daedalus is slightly more than just a crate." John laughed before standing to walk out with Harry. "Let's go let the Daedalus crew know and then we can check up on Caldwell after Hermiod finishes the procedure."

"More time in Hyperspace… yay!" Harry grumbled. "This time without you." He added quietly.

"You managed without me last time." John grabbed him as they passed one of the generator rooms and closed the door behind them, pinning Harry lightly to the door so there was no way anyone could open it without warning them. John kissed him lightly.

"Last time you were in danger. I had that to focus on." Harry sighed and dipped his head down onto John's shoulder. "I'll miss you. We barely get to spend any time together."

"It comes with the job." John sighed. "You know neither of us can give up our jobs. But this is better than not having each other right?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Well when Hyperspace gets to be too much just think about me, alright?" John whispered.

"Fancy giving me something to remember you by before I leave?" Harry teased, trailing a hand down to John's stomach and pushing it up under his loose t-shirt and onto his bare stomach.

"Definitely later." John laughed and nipped Harry lightly on the ear.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

"Everything set to go?" John asked as he walked onto the bridge of the Daedalus with Elizabeth at his side.

"I'm still not overjoyed about this you know?" Harry told John as John came close. He'd officially taken Command the day before and spent the time getting the ship ready for its second attempt to get back to Earth. The crew were a little off about their actual Commanding Officer being monitored in the ship's sick bay but they all knew what had happened and Major Meyers had gone a long way to bridge the gap but as far as the Air Force crew were concerned it was better to have a pilot as their temporary Commanding Officer.

Hermiod had been fascinated to finally have him on board and had asked to run a few tests on him on the way back to Earth. Harry was a little concerned by that but for the sake of their relationship with the Asgard he'd accepted.

"Wont be long before they want to give you one of these permanently." John pointed out.

"Don't kid around." Harry grumbled.

"Sir, we're ready to depart." Captain Kleinman reported with a twist of his head.

"We'll see you in about six weeks." Elizabeth smiled to him. "We'll get off of your ship."

"Take care of yourself." John met his eyes and glanced to his right shoulder where Harry knew he had quite a vicious, yet pleasurable at the time, bruise forming from John the night before. Not to mention Harry as a little sore right now in certain departments. John would be too he bet.

John escorted Elizabeth off of the ship and Harry ran the ship through pre-launch procedures, getting reports from all of the departments. "Passengers are clear of the airlock, Major." Meyers reported to him.

"This will be novel." Harry grumbled. "If I didn't know what it's like I'd try to take those controls from you, Captain." He told Kleinman who smiled back over his shoulder at Harry sitting in the Command chair.

"Ship wide." Harry told Meyers. She nodded and a chime rang through the air. "This is Major Potter. I know these aren't brilliant circumstances for any of you and I know that this is Colonel Caldwell's ship, not mine. But I swear to you that I take my duty very seriously. I am a pilot and although my true bird is in the port hanger I can safely say that right now the Daedalus is my Command and I'll do right by her. So let's have a nice simple trip back to Earth." He turned to Kleinman without cutting the connection. "Take us up, Captain."

The comm cut out and Kleinman went to work. Harry felt the rumble through the ship as the engines kicked in and slowly took the weight off of the landing struts and slowly they rose up until with a lurch the supports retracted. "We are airborne, Major." Kleinman declared.

"Atlantis control, this is Daedalus. We are airborne." Meyers reported automatically.

"_Have a safe journey, Daedalus."_ Chuck declared and Harry knew John and Elizabeth were probably watching from the hanger.

"Atlantis control, this is Daedalus Acting Command." Harry intoned as he thumbed the talk switch on the arm of his chair. "You'd better still be in one piece when we get back."

He cut the connection as Kleinman angled them up and he waited patiently, giving only the orders that he knew the bridge crew needed and soon they were jumping into Hyperspace on their twelve day trip back home. He planned to distract himself getting things ready for the trainees that he'd be coming back with and imagining John with him every time he went to bed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


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